UCLA Women's Basketball: Mercury Coach Reflects on Charisma Osborne Falling in Draft

Nate Tibbetts discusses drafting the ex-Bruin.

Jan 19, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts, guards Camryn Brown and Charisma Osborne, more. / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Ahead of the 2024 WNBA Draft, former UCLA Bruins All-Pac-12 shooting guard Charisma Osborne was seen as a potential late first round or early second round selection by a variety of pundits and mock drafts.

But teams, evidently, did not agree.

The 5-foot-9 Fontana native survived all the way till the third round this year. She was selected with the No. 25 pick by the Phoenix Mercury (the first pick of the third round), a once-proud club that has fallen on lean times in recent years. Now, the two time Pac-12 All-Defensive Teamer will join a veteran-heavy squad that also includes future Hall of Famers Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, plus former Finals MVP Kahleah Copper.

Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts conceded that he and his front office didn't expect to be able to draft Osborne with the team's first pick last year, after it offloaded the Nos. 3 and 13 selections to the Chicago Sky in an offseason trade to acquire Copper.

#Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts on drafting Charisma Osborne in #wnba third round pic.twitter.com/fxw1PNgrI4

— jeffmetcalfe (@jeffmetcalfe) April 29, 2024

"Nick [general manager Nick U’Ren] and his group, they were ready on draft night," Tibbetts said. "They were extremely prepared. They had a draft list that they had. We obviously had Charisma quite a bit higher in our draft board than what she wanted, and so I don't think there was much time to think about it, we went and got her."

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