Washington announces Kelsey Plum jersey number retirement, date

Kelsey Plum is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time WNBA champion. But, before that, she became a household name at Washington, where she clocked out as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in Division I women’s basketball, a record that stood until Iowa-and-now-WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark broke it this year.

Plum enjoyed a prolific career with the Huskies, one that’s now being recognized with a jersey retirement at Alaska Airlines Arena on Jan. 18.

Her No. 10 jersey will go up in the rafters on the day the Huskies host Purdue for a Saturday afternoon Big Ten clash.

The Poway, California, native logged 3,527 points in her Washington career, including 1,109 points in the 2016-17 season, during which she broke the single-season NCAA women’s scoring record (another mark Clark took down this year).

The Huskies haven’t made it back to the NCAA Tournament since Plum left for the WNBA. While in school, she guided them to March Madness three straight years. Plum led Washington to the Sweet 16 in 2016 and 2017, and that 2016 run culminated in the program’s first-ever trip to the Final Four.

Plum departed as Washington’s all-time 3-point leader and the Pac-12’s all-time single-season scoring leader. She also set the Pac-12 single-game scoring record with a 57-point outburst in a win over Utah at the end of the 2016-17 regular season. That year, Plum averaged 31.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, and she was named the AP National Player of the Year.

She went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft. Plum was picked by the San Antonio Stars, who became the Las Vegas Aces in 2018.

Plum made the WNBA All-Rookie Team in 2017, but 2022 marked the best season of her accomplished pro career, at least so far. She was All-Star MVP and was an All-WNBA first-team honoree for a WNBA champion Aces team, averaging 20.2 points and 5.1 assists per game and shooting 42% from beyond the arc with 113 makes from long range.

Plum’s Aces won back-to-back WNBA titles in 2022 and 2023. She won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 3×3 Basketball, and she won gold with Team USA Basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

First, though, she caught the nation’s attention at Washington, where her jersey number will be retired this season.