TUSCALOOSA, Ala — Jasmine Walker was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 Women's National Basketball Association Draft on Thursday night.
Walker is the seventh Crimson Tide player to be drafted in the WNBA's 25-year history and the first since 2005. She is also the second from Alabama to go in the first round, joining Tausha Mills, who went No. 2 overall to Washington in 2000.
It was a year for the record books for Walker, setting the program's single-game scoring mark with 41 points and working her way into every three-point top-10 list. She also earned several accolades along the way, including WBCA Honorable Mention All-America honors and SEC All-First Team recognition and was a finalist for the Katrina McClain Award and was one of 30 on the Naismith Midseason Team.
Walker averaged a near double-double in 2020-21 with 19.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game and was the only player in the SEC to rank in the top five in points and rebounds during the season. Walker can play both inside and out, and was one of the best three-point shooters in the country this season, ranking in the top 20 in nearly all categories.
Following her outstanding senior campaign, Walker was a named one of five finalists for the 2021 Katrina McClain Award which goes to the country's best power forward in Division I basketball.
Walker's basketball skills and veteran presence along with fellow seniors Ariyah Copeland and Jordan Lewis led Alabama women's basketball back to the NCAA tournament in 2021 for the first time since 1999.
An Alabama-grown athlete from Montgomery, Walker started her career at Florida State before transferring to Alabama in 2017. She stated multiple times that "coming home" and playing at Alabama was one of the best decisions of her life.
