UCLA Women's Basketball: Cori Close Reacts to Charisma Osborne Declaring for WNBA Draft

Eva Geitheim | Apr 3, 2024

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA women's basketball graduate student Charisma Osborne has officially declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft, which takes place on April 15. Osborne announced her decision in a lengthy social media post on Tuesday, three days after her final game with the Bruins after UCLA's 78-69 loss to LSU in the NCAA Sweet 16.

Bruins head coach Cori Close reposted Osborne's message and proudly reacted to her statement.

"So classy Charisma Osborne! So proud of who you are," Close said. "Your best basketball days are still ahead. WNBA will be so lucky to have you."

So classy @CharismaOsborne ! So proud of who you are. Your best basketball days are still ahead. WNBA will be so lucky to have you. https://t.co/6mVhVklNJo

— Cori Close (@CoachCoriClose) April 2, 2024

After five seasons with the Bruins and Close, Osborne's collegiate basketball career has come to an end. Osborne developed a strong relationship with Close, revealing recently that she got Close to dance to secure her commitment to UCLA coming out of high school.

Now, Osborne moves on to her professional career after leading the Bruins to back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in her final two seasons at UCLA. In her final season, the Bruins finished the season 27-7 and ranked as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25 during part of the 2023-2024 season.

During her time at UCLA, Osborne also made the All-Pac-12 team four times, and the Pac-12 All-Defensive team two times. In her final collegiate season, Osborne averaged 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Overall at UCLA, she averaged 14.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.