Huskies Add One of Nation's Top Women's Players

Rice's 6-foot-9 center follows her basketball coach to Seattle.

The University of Washington women's basketball team, which underwent an offseason coaching change, just got a lot taller and presumably much better.

On Sunday, new coach Tina Langley announced that 6-foot-9 Nancy Mulkey — one of the nation's tallest and talented women's basketball players — will play for the Huskies.

Mulkey, in fact, will become the tallest player in UW history.

These two, the coach and the center, know each other.

Mulkey, from Cypress, Texas, began her career at Oklahoma and played the past three seasons for Langley at Rice and helped lead the Owls to the WNIT championship and was named the tournament's most valuable player. She has one season of eligibility remaining.

"Nancy Mulkey is an elite basketball player and person," Langley said. "Not only is she one of the best post players in the country, she has the character and discipline to be a leader in all walks of life and will make an immediate impact on our program."

Mulkey started 27 games for Rice and averaged 15.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting 57 percent from the floor. She leaves as the school's all-time leader in shooting percentage at 55.1 percent and blocked shots per game at 3.5.

The towering center was a big reason Rice went 72-16 in her three years at the school, helping the Owls capture three consecutive C-USA championships. the first to do so. 

Mulkey also has played internationally for the U.S. national team in the 2019 Pan American Game trials and perviously for USA U17 and U16 teams. 

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: HuskyMaven/Sports Illustrated