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Nebraska center
Kate Cain signed a WNBA Training Camp contract with the Las Vegas Aces on April 17 to begin her professional basketball career.
A three-time Lisa Leslie Award candidate, Cain was 1 of 15 players named to the 2021 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List. A three-time Big Ten All-Defensive choice, Cain also claimed her second straight honorable-mention All-Big Ten award in 2020-21.
Cain owns Nebraska career (352) and season (101) block records and climbed to No. 6 in Big Ten history while ranking No. 2 nationally among all active Division I players. Her 352 career blocks were 114 more than Nebraska’s previous career leader in that category, Janet Smith (238, 1979-82).
Share this page: Official Release April 15, 2021
– Collier One of Three Players Selected in First Round by Wings, Including First Finnish WNBA Prospect Awak Kuier–
– International Players Representing Five Different Countries Selected in This Year’s Draft–
NEW YORK, April 15, 2021 – Two-time All-American Charli Collier of Texas tonight was selected by the Dallas Wings with the first overall pick of WNBA Draft 2021 presented by State Farm®, which was held virtually for a second year in a row in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award as the nation’s top center, Collier is the first No. 1 overall selection in the WNBA Draft from the University of Texas. In her final season for the Longhorns, she averaged 19.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
Charli Collier selected No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings
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Photo by Justin Tafoya//NCAA Photos via Getty Images
For the first time in school history a Texas Longhorn was selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft as the Dallas Wings chose center Charli Collier with the first pick in the draft. .
The junior from Mont Belview, Texas has been a leader for the Longhorns for the last two seasons, averaging a double-double in both her sophomore and junior campaigns. Her efforts make her just the second player in school history to average a double-double in multiple seasons, joining Retha Swindell who achieved the feat in the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons. Her 19 double-doubles as a junior was No. 2 in the country and by scoring 20 or more points on 17 occasions put her at No. 2 in the Big 12.
Nebraska senior
Kate Cain rewrote the Husker record book in her four seasons in Lincoln. The 6-5 center from Middletown, N.Y., shattered the Husker career blocked shot record with 352 in her 118-game career – 114 blocks more than previous record holder Janet Smith. Cain’s total ranked sixth in Big Ten history and was No. 2 among active NCAA Division I players in 2020-21.
A graduate student at Nebraska who earned her bachelor’s degree in management in just three years on campus, Cain has chosen to forego an extra season of eligibility granted by the NCAA, in order to pursue her dream of playing professional basketball.