UCLA Women's Basketball: Charisma Osborne Selected by Phoenix Mercury in Third Round of WNBA Draft

Former UCLA women's basketball guard Charisma Osborne has been drafted by the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury drafted Osborne with the 25th overall pick in this 2024 WNBA Draft. Osborne is the first UCLA women's basketball player drafted since Michaela Onyenwere was taken sixth overall in 2021. Osborne was projected to be a late first-round pick or early second-round pick, but ending up dropping to the top of the third round.

Osborne joins a Mercury team that went just 9-31 in 2023, and are working on rebounding heading into the 2024 campaign.

Osborne announced she was entering the WNBA Draft back on April 2nd, after the Bruins were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament following their loss to LSU. She was one of the 15 players invited to the WNBA Draft, which is taking place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The Mercury drafted Osborne after she spent five years playing for the Bruins. During her time at UCLA, Osborne was one of the team's best players throughout this span, averaging 14.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in her collegiate career. In her final season at UCLA, Osborne averaged 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Along with these honors, Osborne was a four-time All-Pac-12 member and a two-time Pac-12 All-Defensive Team member. She helped lead UCLA to back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances over final two seasons with the Bruins, and will now transition to helping the Mercury turn around their trajectory.