Two Former Texas High School Basketball Standouts Selected in WNBA Draft

Two former Texas High School girls' basketball stars are headed to the WNBA.

Both Ashlon Jackson and Rori Harmon were accomplished players in high school and then went on to be standouts at the collegiate level.

The Golden State Valkyries took Jackson with the 23rd overall pick, 8th in the second round, on Monday.

In the third round, the Washington Mystics selected Harmon with the third round, with the 34th overall pick.

Ashlon Jackson’s Path

The 6-foot-0 guard was a standout player at Hardin-Jefferson High School in Sour Lake. She was a three-time all-region and all-state pick for the Lady Hawks from 2019 to 2021.

She was the District 22-4A Newcomer of the Year in 2019 and District MVP in 2022.

She was chosen as a McDonald’s All-American in 2022.

Jackson guided the Lady Hawks to the Class 4A finals in the 2020-21 season, scoring 27 points in a one-point loss to Canyon in the finals as a junior.

The next year, Hardin-Jefferson was back in the finals and lost by a point again, this time to Brownsboro.

She was also part of the team that made the state finals as a freshman, falling in the finals to Argyle. The only time the Lady Hawks didn’t make the finals was during the COVID 2019-2020 season.

Jackson scored 2,638 points in her high school career. She was ranked No. 16 in the ESPNW rankings and signed with Duke.

Baylor Bears forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (5) grabs a rebound against Duke Blue Devils guard Ashlon Jackson (3) during the first half at Adidas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

She was an ACC All-Tournament Team pick and an All-ACC second-team pick in 2025. Jackson owns two of the top nine single-season three-point totals in program history. She dished a career-best 164 assists to rank fifth in Duke single-season history.

She scored 1,272 points and ranks second all-time with 235 3-pointers in Blue Devil history.

“Ashlon is an elite competitor and a winner,” said Golden State Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin. “She has a high basketball IQ and a team-first mentality. She brings a level of compassion and has proven that she is willing to do whatever the team needs to succeed.”

Rori Harmon’s Road

Harmon becomes the 14th Texas women's basketball player taken in the WNBA draft.

She ended her career with the Longhorns with 1,616 points and her 977 assists and 388 steals are career records for the program. Both of the previous marks stood for more than 40 years.

Harmon’s 977 assists places her 10th all-time in NCAA Division 1 history. She started a school-record 155 games and went 136-21 playing for Texas. She played in two final fours, was a four-time All-American and was the 2023 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

She made the SEC All-Defensive Team as a junior. Harmon was the 2022 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player that year as well.

"Rori Harmon is simply the best point guard I've ever coached in 41 years in this industry," Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said. "She is generational. They just don't make them like her. There is no other player in the country that defends like Rori Harmon from baseline to baseline and then comes down and runs her team and is responsible for everyone on the offensive end as well. And then you better not take your eye off her because she will make you pay. She is really special. If they hired me tomorrow in the WNBA, she would be the first one I would go get because she can run a team. She knows leadership, she knows playbook, she knows players, she knows what we are doing and how we are doing it. She is an extension of me on the floor."

Before going to the Forty Acres, she played at Cypress Creek High School in Houston — part of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.

Harmon was the 2020-2021 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and was a McDonald’s All-American the same season.

The 5-foot-6 guard averaged 18 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 5.2 steals per game as a senior. She helped the Cougars reach the Class 6A finals that season. As a junior, she helped Cy Creek go 41-1, falling in the Class 6A finals that year.

ESPNW ranked her as the No. 10 prospect in the Class of 2021. The Houston Chronicle named her the Girls Co-Player of the Year following her senior season.

Harmon was a four-time all-state pick by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

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