Longhorns Star Charli Collier Declares for 2021 WNBA Draft

Charli Collier, a Texas Longhorns junior center, announced on Sunday that she would leave college after this season and enter the 2021 WNBA Draft

Texas Longhorns center Charli Collier declared for the 2021 WNBA Draft on Sunday in a recorded interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

The announcement came at halftime of the Baylor-Texas Tech men’s game. She also made the announcement via Twitter shortly after the interview

Thank you, Texas. 🤘🏽 pic.twitter.com/puH4wQp4xG

— Charli Collier™ (@charlicollier) March 7, 2021

Many consider Collier as the favorite to become No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft. That pick belongs to the Dallas Wings.

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Collier said several factors went into the decision, but she referenced her father, who has passed away, as a ‘life force’ on her progression as a player and person.

“He used to always tell me I'll be number one,” Collier said. “I didn't know what that would be in. But just number one at everything, I took it like that, number one in school athletics or in anything. So I just carry that on every day that I have to be number one at whatever that may be. And I just want to continue to work hard and be the best I could be.”

Collier was an All-Big 12 selection a year ago and is considered a candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year and National Player of the Year.

Collier joined the 1,000-point club at Texas earlier this season and leads the team in scoring (20.9 points per game) and rebounding (12.2 per game). At 6'5", the junior is one of the best centers in the college game, and a selection by the Wings would not only keep her close to her collegiate home but also to her high school home. Collier is from Mont Belvieu, Tex., and went to high school at Barbers Hill.

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Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Longhorns in the Pros for Longhorn Country on FanNation.com and SINow. He also writes for CowboyMaven and DallasBasketball.com, covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com, and is the Editor of the College Football America Yearbook. Have a story idea about a former Longhorn now in the professional ranks? Contact Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.