USC Women's Basketball: McKenzie Forbes Unpacks Journey From Ivy League To Trojans To WNBA

USC Trojans graduate student wing McKenzie Forbes has her next hoops destination. The six-footer will stay local, having been drafted last night by the Los Angeles Sparks with the No. 28 overall pick at the top of the third round. Her teammate, fellow ex-Ivy League grad student Kaitlyn Davis, was selected by the New York Liberty with the No. 35 pick.

As Luca Evans of The Orange County Register, Forbes, who spent her undergrad career with the Cal Golden Bears and subsequently the Harvard Crimson, was reveling in the moment as USC made its run to the Elite Eight earlier this month.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life, but honestly my whole college career to make a deep run in March Madness, because I always felt like I was – I always felt like I deserved to be on that stage, and showcase my game, and that I was good enough for it,” Forbes said. “And so, I think, just to have that opportunity, that’s why you see me, like – I just don’t like to hold back any emotion.”

The 23-year-old out of Folsom made quite the impression on her Harvard head coach, Carrie Moore, as Evans details.

“She is absolutely fearless,” Moore raved. “She doesn’t think about, like, you know, tie game, need a big bucket – what’s the downfall of taking this shot? She just thinks about the positive, and that says a lot about her and how she operates.”

“She speaks things into existence... She sees things before they even happen,” Moore said. “Like, she doesn’t think about not getting into Harvard... All she thinks about is getting in, and what that journey looks like on the other side.”

Per Evans, USC head coach Lindsey Gottlieb is confident that Forbes is not just a WNBA-level talent, but also is capable of applying her Ivy League-trained brain to crunching numbers in a hoops front office at some point.

Should she earn a roster spot in training camp, Forbes will instantly become part of a big youth movement for the three-time WNBA champs, who haven't even been to the playoffs across any of the last three seasons. LA selected Stanford forward Cameron Brink with the second overall pick and Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson with the fourth pick.