Ex-Cal Player Marta Suarez Returns to the Bay Area in the WNBA

Golden State Valkyries acquire Suarez in a draft-day trade after she spent 2 years at Cal

Marta Suarez on the orange carpet | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Marta Suarez, who spent two years as a starter on Cal's women's basketball team, is returning to the Bay Area after the Golden State Valkyries made a trade to obtain Suarez, who was the first pick in the second round in Monday's WNBA draft.

"I'm back to the Bay, baby," Suarez said in a post-draft interview. "I'm hella excited. What can I say. I'm going to be honest, one of my favorite memories in college basketball was when we got to do a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight in Sacramento [with TCU], and looking out there and seeing all my people from Cal. It filled my heart. It was a full-circle moment."

Excited to welcome former Bear Marta Suárez back to the Bay!

Marta spent two incredible years with us, marked by tremendous development. In her second year, she played a pivotal role in helping us earn an NCAA Tournament berth. Once a Bear, always a Bear 🐻

¡Vamos Osos! pic.twitter.com/JYre1AmaeJ

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) April 14, 2026

With their first-round pick in the draft, the Valkyries took LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson with the No. 8 overall selection. But after Seattle took Suarez with the first pick of the second round, it was announced that the Valkyries had traded Johnson to the Seattle Storm, and the Valkyries were getting Suarez with the 16th overall pick.

For a moment, Suarez was a member of the Storm:

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert (left) and Marta Suarez, who was a member of the Storm for a few minutes | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

But she quickly joined the Valkyries, who play their home games at Chase Center in San Francisco.

"We are excited to welcome Marta back to the Bay," said Golden State Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin. "She brings tenacity, passion and grit on both sides of the ball. She is an artist on and off the court and plays with an immense amount of heart. She is constantly seeking to improve and loves the process."

Suarez, who is from Spain, began her college career at Tennessee, spending two seasons with the Vols, including one in which she redshirted because of an injury. She then transferred to Cal and played the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with the Bears.

She started 34 games in 2023-24 when she averaged 11.9 points and 6.9 rebounds for a Cal team that finished with a 19-15 record and advanced to the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament.

The next season, Suarez started 32 games and averaged 12.9 points and 7.2 rebounds for Cal, which finished with a 25-9 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019.

Suarez then transferred to TCU for her final college season, and had her best season, averaging 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds for a Horned Frogs team that went 32-6 and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. She had 33 points and 10 rebounds in TCU's Sweet 16 win over Virginia.

But she has not forgotten her times in Berkeley.

"The moment thy tell me I'm going back to the Bay and I know my support group there," Suarez said in her post-draft interview. "My favorite Chinese spot ever is in San Francisco, and I am going back to that. Extremely excited."

She noted that she had had some discussions with the Valkyries front office people.

"They had touched my heart," Suarez said, "so to know that somehow I made an impact on them as well, very exciting."

The last player to be taken in the WNBA draft after spending her final season at Cal was Kristine Anigwe, who was a first-round pick (No. 9 overall) in the 2019 draft.

Nine players who finished their college careers at Cal have been taken in the WNBA draft over the years, and four of them have been first-round picks -- Anigwe (2019), Brittany Boyd (215), Layshia Clarendon (2013) and Ashley Walker (2009). Anigwe, Boyd and Clarendon were all the No. 9 overall pick, the highest a Cal player has been drafted by the WNBA.