Charlisse Trinity Leger-Walker (born 15 September 2001) is a New Zealand

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. She previously played for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

College career

As a freshman at

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, Leger-Walker averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. She was named

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Freshman of the Year and made the all-conference team. In her sophomore season, Leger-Walker repeated as an All-Pac-12 selection, averaging 16.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. On 11 December 2022, she scored a career-high 40 points in an 82–66 loss to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Leger-Walker led No. 7 seed Washington State to the 2023 Pac-12 tournament title, the first in program history, and was named most outstanding player. She finished her junior season averaging 17.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game, and earned All-Pac-12 honors. On 23 November 2023, Leger-Walker became the second Washington State player to record a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

, with 11 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists in an 87–67 win over

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. She missed the last 11 games of the season with a torn ACL. As a senior, she was named All-Pac-12 for a fourth time and averaged 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. Leger-Walker transferred to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

for her fifth season of eligibility, granted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On December 6, 2024, UCLA announced that Leger-Walker would redshirt the 2024–25 season to fully rehabilitate her ACL injury.

National team career

Leger-Walker made her debut for the

New Zealand women's national basketball team The New Zealand women's national basketball team represents New Zealand in international Women's basketball, basketball competitions. They are nicknamed the Tall Ferns. The team has been coached by Guy Molloy since 2018. The New Zealand women' ...

at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. At age 16, she became the youngest player to play for the senior national team. She averaged 11.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, helping New Zealand win the bronze medal. Leger-Walker won a silver medal at the

2019 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup The 2019 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup consists of two sections: * 2019 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup – Men's tournament * 2019 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup – Women's tournament {{FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup International basketball compet ...

, the first medal by a New Zealand women's team at a

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

world tournament, and was named to the all-tournament team.

Personal life

Leger-Walker is of Samoan and Maori descent. Her mother Leanne Walker, played for the New Zealand women's national basketball team; she competed in the Summer Olympics in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Leger-Walker's older sister, Krystal, played basketball for

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

and was her teammate at Washington State before turning professional.

References

External links

Basketball New Zealand bioUCLA Bruins bioWashington State Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leger-Walker, Charlisse Living people New Zealand women's basketball players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in the United States New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand Māori sportspeople Washington State Cougars women's basketball players Guards (basketball) 2001 births 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen Samoan people of German descent New Zealand people of German descent