Speaking on a panel at WSU’s 47th annual Murrow Symposium, the WSU women’s basketball junior guard from New Zealand drew applause with her sudden announcement that she would be back for her senior year.

Charlisse Leger-Walker told Cindy Brunson, the former SportsCenter anchor, current Phoenix Mercury and Pac-12 broadcaster WSU alumna and 2023 Murrow Hall of Achievement inductee precisely. what she and the rest of the room of WSU communications students and student media wanted to hear.

Leger-Walker’s official return is not necessarily a surprise to fans but is certainly a blessing and came as a surprise in this particular setting of the Murrow Symposium, the Murrow College of Communication’s annual event which connects current communications students with WSU alumni working in the communications industry.

The session was entitled Let’s Go Cougs! A Conversation with WSU’s PAC-12 Champions.

However, Leger-Walker is fresh off the best season of her collegiate career in which she averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game and scored 76 points in the Pac-12 Tournament on her way to the Pac-12 Championship.

“I think anytime you have someone of Charlisse’s caliber coming off the ball it attracts more defense than you can imagine,” fifth-year forward Ula Motuga said after the Cougar’s historic win over No. 3-ranked Utah in the Pac-12 quarterfinals in Las Vegas. 

Brunson, who moderated the panel at the Murrow Symposium comprised of Leger-Walker and head coach Kamie Ethridge wasted no time praising WSU women’s basketball and hyping up Leger-Walker.

Brunson was inducted into the Murrow Hall of Achievement the hour after this panel. The Murrow alumna said Leger-Walker should be excited to showcase her skills on a national stage and has developed to the extent that Women’s National Basketball Association teams are excited to have her a part of their team.

During the panel, Leger-Walker said she, of course, aims to join the WNBA and considered entering the draft this year, her first season of eligibility.

When Charlisse discovered she was eligible for the WNBA Draft, she decided she wanted to spend one more year in college, she said on the panel.

Leger-Walker is no stranger to basketball. Her mother Leanne Walker was a part of two Olympic teams (2000 and 2004) and her sister Krystal Leger-Walker scored over 1,000 career points between six collegiate seasons with Northern Colorado and WSU.

Krystal spent the majority of her college career with Ethridge as her head coach and in 2023 won the Women’s National Basketball League Championship.

Charlisse herself scored her 1,000th point Nov. 13 against Praire View A&M in Pullman.

When her mother was the coach of a New Zealand women’s league team, Leanne let Charlisse (who was only 12 at the time) play.

Charlisse knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. The following year, the league raised the minimum participation age to 15.

Head coach Kamie Ethridge said the team is fortunate to have retained a majority of their starters throughout their three straight NCAA Tournament trips.

The Cougs returned four starters from the 2021–23 season with the only departed starter being out of eligibility each year.

Krystal Leger-Walker left after the 2021–22 season and Ula Motuga left after the 2022–23 season.

The Cougs return four starters yet again with All-Pac-12 Charlisse, All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention Bella Murekatete, Tara Wallack and Johanna Teder returning to the team. 

Wazzu also returns with All-Pac-12 Freshman Astera Tuhina, who stepped up as a co-captain of the offense with eight double-digit performances and an average of 7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

When Charlisse takes the court next fall, she will walk into the arena with her eyes on the WNBA and on representing New Zealand.

“I’m seeing how big of an opportunity it is,” Leger-Walker said after she won the Pac-12 title. “And if I can be in the limelight for that and show what’s possible, I think that’s important. Not only are they talking about me, but they are getting into how many Kiwis there are here playing college basketball and highlighting that now”