WSU senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker entered the transfer portal Tuesday after four years at WSU.
Leger-Walker leaves WSU as the most decorated student-athlete in program history being third in scoring with 1,743 career points, a three-time All-American and a four-time All-Conference player. The 5-foot-10 guard from Waikato, New Zealand saw her senior season cut short during WSU’s 85-82 upset of then-No. 2 UCLA Jan. 28 in Pauley Pavillion in Los Angeles.
Leger-Walker led WSU to its first women’s conference championship when she scored 76 points in four games over five days to win the Pac-12 Championship and the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Leger-Walker will graduate from WSU after spending four years on the Palouse.
“My goal was always to finish four years here and really try and help turn this program around,” she said in October.
In addition to being third in scoring, she also leaves as second in made threes (199), third in career minutes played (3,794), fourth in career scoring average (16.6), fourth in field goals made (607), fourth in assists (389), fifth in made free throws (330) and ninth in program history in career starts (105).
The Cougs made the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons with Leger-Walker on the roster and were on track for a fourth appearance before Leger-Walker’s injury. The Cougs were named the No. 1 seed in the WBIT and lost in the semifinals of the inaugural NCAA-sponsored tournament.
“This was not how I envisioned my career as a Coug coming to an end, but I do know that being a Coug has been one of the greatest periods of my life and I have absolutely no regrets,” Leger-Walker wrote in an Instagram post.
With WSU and Oregon State University left behind by the 10 other Pac-12 schools who joined other conferences, the two schools will join the West Coast Conference in basketball and several other sports for the next two years.
The transition leaves WSU and OSU in a mid-major conference and players with power conference-level talent left to evaluate their futures.
OSU guard Talia von Oelhoffen announced she was entering the portal as a grad transfer Tuesday as well.
With Leger-Walker in the portal, the Cougs risk losing at least three starters as Bella Murekatete and Beyonce Bea are out of eligibility.
Head coach Kamie Ethridge credits Leger-Walker for transforming WSU into a tournament team.
“Charlisse walked into this program as a freshman and impacted it and changed it forever,” Ethridge said.
