As the curtain falls on the era of the Pac-12 Conference as it has been traditionally known, the basketball community turns its attention to Las Vegas for the conference tournament, sparking the debate: who are the top 50 women’s basketball players to emerge from the Pac-12?
At the pinnacle of our list is a USC icon, yet surprisingly, Cheryl Miller does not claim this spot. This deviation arises from the fact that Miller’s collegiate career concluded just before the league commenced its governance over women’s sports in the 1986-87 academic year, therefore she, along with her USC cohort Cynthia Cooper and UCLA’s Ann Meyers, are not featured due to their tenure in the Western Collegiate Athletic Association (later dubbed the PacWest). Additionally, during this period, five of the current Pac-12 institutions were part of the Northern Pacific Conference.
Our focus is on players who have represented Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State since the 1986-87 season, and Colorado and Utah since their inclusion in the 2011-12 season, transitioning the Pac-10 into the Pac-12.
While promising talents like USC’s JuJu Watkins may have been contenders for this list if the Pac-12’s dissolution wasn’t imminent, Watkins is poised to spend the bulk of her collegiate career in the Big Ten, following USC’s transition next season.
The players listed have not only made their mark in collegiate basketball but have also pursued successful careers professionally in the United States and internationally, with the ABL launching in 1996 and the WNBA in 1997. Our rankings consider these professional and international achievements alongside their collegiate successes.
As the Pac-12 schools prepare to disperse into other conferences, we celebrate the top 50 players who have defined the excellence of Pac-12 women’s basketball over the last 38 seasons, acknowledging their contributions to the sport’s legacy. These athletes include Lisa Leslie, Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Tina Thompson, Sabrina Ionescu, and many others who have not only dominated on the college level but have also made significant impacts in their professional and international careers.
From USC’s Leslie, a four-time all-league selection and three-time All-American, to Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike, a three-time All-American and two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, these athletes have contributed to the rich history of the conference. Kelsey Plum, the Pac-12’s all-time leading scorer, and Tina Thompson, a Naismith Hall of Famer and four-time WNBA champion, along with Oregon’s triple-double queen Sabrina Ionescu and the Ogwumike sisters, have all played pivotal roles in elevating women’s basketball.
As we bid farewell to the Pac-12 as it currently exists, we honor the legacy of these exceptional athletes and the indelible mark they have left on the sport.