UT Star Charli Collier Is Dallas Wings' First Round Draft Pick

When you're a six-foot, five-inch basketball phenom, you tend to stand out.

Both factors rank high on the list of reasons the Dallas Wings used their No. 1 overall pick to snag UT superstar Charli Collier, the forward who's made the Lady Longhorns a force to be reckoned with on the court.

Collier, who earned an honorable mention as a WBCA All-American, accrued a series of stats that would make any recruiter take notice. The forward/center averaged 11.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 19 points per game, as well as shooting 51.1 percent from the field during the 2020-21 season. She also spearheaded the No. 6 seed Longhorn team's march to the Elite Eight of the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

As a Longhorn, she's already made history for her scoring average — the sixth best in the school's history.

But that was just where the Wings took flight. Since the team is the first in the history of the league with two top picks in the same draft, they used their second pick to tap the Cairo-born Awak Kuier. Raised in Finland, the 19-year old 6'5" center is currently playing professionally in Italy for Virtus Eirene Ragusa.

After another three picks, the Wings chose 5'11' Arkansas guard Chelsea Dungee, a WBCA first-team All American who's boosted Razorbacks scores by an average 22.3 points per game this season.

With Collier — actually the first UT player to be selected first overall in a WNBA draft — and the team's other new talent, Kuier and Dungee, the stage is set for an exciting season, set to tip off May 14. Since none of the current roster has more than five years in the league, the sky's the limit.