Women's Fastbreak On SI

Kelsey Plum Describes Emotions Amid Washington College Jersey Retirement

WNBA superstar Kelsey Plum got honest about what she's feeling during her college jersey retirement ceremony.
Grant Young|
Jul 20, 2024; Phoenix, AZ, USA; USA Women's National Team guard Kelsey Plum (5) during the WNBA All Star game at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Jul 20, 2024; Phoenix, AZ, USA; USA Women's National Team guard Kelsey Plum (5) during the WNBA All Star game at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Las Vegas Aces superstar, two-time WNBA Champion, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Plum is having her No. 10 jersey retired by the University of Washington on Saturday, during the Huskies' January 18 game against Purdue.

There's no doubt that Plum is extremely deserving of this honor. During her time spent in Washington, she became the all-time NCAA scoring leader with 3,527 points (until Caitlin Clark broke that record in 2024), broke the NCAA career free throw record (912), broke the single-season NCAA scoring record with 1,109 points in 2016-17 (which Clark also broke at the end of her 2023-24 season), and is Washington's all-time three-point leader, the Pac-12’s all-time single-season scoring leader, and set the Pac-12 single-game scoring record with 57 points.

Prior to her jersey retirement ceremony, Plum spoke about how she's feeling about the award.

"I'm just so grateful to be here. It just feels like a full-circle moment," Plum said, per an X post from the WNBA. "Just really proud to represent this university, and honestly just the people here at brunch and then of course during the game today, I just feel really grateful."

When asked if this is something she could have imagined herself at a freshman at Washington, Plum said, "No, I don't think so. I think that obviously I wanted to be the best player I could be and play in the WNBA. But I didn't have this type of imagination of what could happen.

"It's gonna finally hit me during the game, but for now I'm just trying to take as much of it in as I can," Plum continued.

She concluded by saying, "[I] feel like I really developed a lot of character here, and it has just really helped me at the next level. So I would just say the relationships that I made here, like I said earlier I'm forever grateful for it and I'm proud to be a dog."

Props to Plum for achieving this massive milestone amid what has been an incredible career.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

Share on XFollow GrvntYoung
Home/News