Aces' star Kelsey Plum's humble reaction to Washington jersey retirement
11/01/2024 05:05 PM
The University of Washington announced Friday that former women's basketball star Kelsey Plum's No. 10 jersey will be retired during a special ceremony set for next year. Plum, a standout athlete who shattered records during her college career from 2013 to 2017, will be the first women's basketball player in UW history to receive this honor.
Plum expressed her appreciation for the recognition, which she called a full-circle moment in her career.
"I’m forever proud to be a Husky and UW is a special place that fundamentally shaped me both as a basketball player and as a person," she said in a press release from the University of Washington Athletics. "It means the world to me to receive this honor and to celebrate it with my family, friends, and alumni. It will be a great feeling to look up at the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I’ve admired for so long."
During her tenure at UW, Plum set the NCAA all-time scoring record with 3,527 points — a milestone that held until Caitlin Clark in 2024 — and broke a 33-year-old career free throw record with 912 made. In her 2016-17 senior season, she set the single-season NCAA scoring record with 1,109 points. Plum's leadership took the Huskies to their first-ever NCAA Final Four in 2016, and she was a consistent presence on All-America and All-Pac-12 teams throughout her college career.
Kelsey Plum has had strong influence on basketball
Plum's influence on the sport did not stop after college. Selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces), she became the first top pick in UW basketball history. Her professional accolades include being named the 2021 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year and earning All-Star MVP in 2022 after setting an All-Star Game scoring record. She has since helped the Aces secure back-to-back WNBA Championships in 2022 and 2023.
Internationally, Plum has represented Team USA, winning a gold medal in 3×3 basketball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and contributing to gold medals at the 2022 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
UW's Director of Athletics Pat Chun highlighted Plum's far-reaching impact on the sport: "Kelsey is one of the great basketball players of all time, and she's a UW legend. An Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion, Kelsey has inspired fans worldwide and countless young basketball players and student-athletes."
Plum’s jersey retirement ceremony will take place on Jan. 18, 2025, during Washington’s Big 10 matchup against Purdue.
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