UCLA Owns the WNBA Draft

The WNBA Draft took place in New York, but UCLA dominated the building. Rich runs down the run of Bruins that went on Monday night and what it means that Cori Close's program just set a record.

Paige Bueckers went first to Dallas. Dominique Malonga landed second. Then the UCLA parade started. Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice three in a row, with Angela Dugalic later in the first round. Six Bruins heard their names called across the draft, the most from any single school in WNBA draft history. Six. Six first-time ever first-rounders from one program in one draft.

Rich frames it like an Ohio State takeover of New York, which lands as a punchline given Ohio State is about to be on the draft's doorstep in Pittsburgh for the NFL event. The vibe in the room was Westwood and nothing else.

Olivia Miles gets a dedicated moment. She went second overall after a decorated college career, and Rich makes the case she's doing something a lot of pros miss. She's memorable. The goggles, the hair, the whole presentation. You walk into an arena and you know which one Miles is before the ball is tipped. Pair that identity with an actual elite skill set, and the marketing writes itself.

The show pivots to what this means for UCLA as a program. Rich pulls Close into the story. She was the first in-studio guest of Women's Sports Now last season, and she's returning to kick off season two as the show relaunches on the ESPN app and ESPN Plus. Six picks into the draft, including the kind of generational talent that Lauren Betts represents, is the kind of credential that pulls the spotlight.

Rich also flags Raven Johnson going to the Indiana Fever, where the hope is Caitlin Clark stays healthy this year and plays a full season. That's the plot every WNBA watcher is tracking.

Sarah Tiana covered the red carpet for Women's Sports Now and the piece is in the edit bay. Colleen Wolfe, Renee Montgomery, part-owner of an Atlanta Dream team that just acquired Angel Reese, and Susie Schuster round out the WSN panel that debuts Thursday night, 6 p.m. Eastern, presented by Miller Lite.

What the clip really marks is a moment. UCLA won the natty. UCLA set a draft record. The program that Cori Close quietly built over more than a decade just cashed in, in public, on the league's biggest night. The Bruins are the story, and the show is leaning all the way in.

Six first-rounders from one school. That banner goes in the rafters too.