During the summer of Charisma Osborne’s sophomore season at UCLA, the Bruins coaching staff created a competition amongst its players to expose them to gameplay at the WNBA level.
Players were tasked with finding motion offense concepts during the WNBA season with points being awarded to a player for each clip and accompanying explanation submitted. The competitor in Osborne drove her to spend the entire summer watching every WNBA game she could. She meticulously scrubbed and rewound game tape before cutting and studying the clips that met the criteria. She looked over plays that featured players like Candace Parker, Kristi Toliver and Jewell Loyd whose games she idolized as a young hooper in Southern California.
Osborne ultimately won the competition.
It became a great primer for the next phase of Osborne’s basketball journey as she readies to join the WNBA as one of the top prospects of the Class of 2024. On Monday night, Osborne will be one of 15 players present in Brooklyn who will await to hear their names called at the WNBA draft (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
“It’s surreal,” said Osborne, one of the greatest players to don a Bruins uniform. “I’ve been dreaming of this for a really long time now, and for it to finally be here, I’m so excited. I just can’t wait.”
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As a freshman at UCLA, Osborne remembers wondering if the college basketball lifestyle was for her. She struggled to physically keep up with her teammates in practice and was unable to produce on the court while winded.
“I literally was dying in practice,” Osborne said. “I literally thought I wasn’t going to make it through.”
The summer after her freshman year, she committed to improving her conditioning not just to be able to run up and down the floor, but also to lead a team and be able to think and do what’s asked of her simultaneously. Each offseason, conditioning was a point of emphasis.
Today, Osborne, who this season became just the second guard in Pac-12 history to score 2,000 points and total 800 rebounds in a career, is praised for the high energy she displays on the court. It’s a welcomed compliment that always reminds the draft prospect of her journey in Westwood.
“She’s got a motor, man,” said Las Vegas Aces point guard Chelsea Gray. “She just goes all the time. She has a great head on her shoulders where she just goes. Sometimes you can’t teach that. You can get better at certain skills but somebody that has a motor and wants to do better all the time, that’s what you really appreciate.”
Osborne, who helped lead the Bruins to a Sweet 16 appearance in her final season, ended her career at UCLA as the second-leading scorer in program history. She’s also first in program history in 3-point shots made, tied for third in field goals made and seventh in assists.
Osborne’s time in Westwood was one characterized by perseverance, high-level performance and adaptation. Her freshman season was at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. During her sophomore and junior seasons, due either to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions or UCLA’s lack of depth, Osborne was asked to play point guard instead of her natural position of shooting guard. In her third season, she played through injury, which required surgery – her third at UCLA – at the end of the year. As a senior, back at shooting guard with a young but promising Bruins squad, she led the team in scoring, rebounds and steals.
Though projected to be a first-round pick in last year’s draft, Osborne opted to use her final year of eligibility to return – a decision she said has helped her fine tune how she reads the game.
“I watch so much film with my coaches all the time, that’s just something that I really enjoy about basketball,” said Osborne who posted career highs in assists and field goal percentage this season. “Just [improving] different reads offensively and defensively and learning the little details have helped so much with this year.”
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Through an unpredictable UCLA tenure, Osborne solidified herself as one of the top scorers and perimeter defenders in the Pac-12 while being named to four All-Pac 12 teams and two Pac-12 All-Defensive teams. Osborne ended her UCLA career averaging 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
On a recent appearance on Atlanta Dream forward Haley Jones’ podcast “Sometimes I Hoop,” two-time All-Pac 12 honoree Talia von Oelhoffen, who recently entered the transfer portal out of Oregon State, called Osborne one of the toughest players to guard in the Pac-12. The conference was considered the deepest and most competitive in the country this season.
“Her bag is so deep that, whatever her tendencies are, you want her to go this way and take this shot, then she hits it,” von Oelhoffen said. “She’s one of those players – she doesn’t have a super-strong tendency. She can kind of just get to any shot. She’s a gamer, wants big moments, [is] just super-athletic and can kind of do it all.”
Defensively, Osborne is among the best in comparison to other notable high-usage defenders. According to Synergy, Osborne, who grew up studying the play of defensive great Alana Beard, was the primary defender for 336 plays this season – 16th most in Division I. Among 69 Division I players to defend at least 300 plays this past season, Osborne had the ninth-best efficiency at 0.688 points allowed per play. That ranks higher than other talented defensive guards in the draft like UConn’s Nika Muhl (0.715 points per play, 20th best efficiency) and Ohio State’s Celeste Taylor (primary defender on 234 plays, 0.756 points per play)
Within that group of 69 players, Osborne ranked fourth in field goal percentage allowed (29.7%).
According to various draft forecasters, Osborne is projected to be taken in the bottom half of the first round of Monday night’s draft – with some having her falling to the second round. Osborne is currently projected by ESPN’s Michael Voepel to be selected in the first round with the No. 11 pick by the New York Liberty.
As far as how Osborne’s game will translate to the next level, one WNBA team front office member lauded Osborne’s growth as a leader and perimeter defender. Osborne’s ceiling as a WNBA player, according to the front office member, is tied to questions about her position (point guard or shooting guard) and if she can develop into a consistent 3-point shooter.
Osborne, who shot 32.3% from 3-point range while at UCLA, said she is willing to play at whatever position is needed of her in the WNBA. Based on what she’s seen, Gray believes Osborne carries the right mindset to find her place in the league.
“Any coach that will give her pointers or, going into the draft, anyone who gives her pointers leaving UCLA, I have a feeling she’s going to work at it,” Gray said.
Osborne has always chosen to respond positively when challenged. That won’t change in the WNBA.
“I think it’s just the competitor in me.” the 5-foot-9 Osborne said. “When I don’t have something, it’s like, well, I’m going to work and do everything I can to try to get that. It’s exciting, it’s fun when you can overcome something or if there’s a challenge in your way and being able to break through that. That’s a big part of why I like basketball, because it is so competitive in that way.”
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As she’s readied herself for the draft, Osborne has looked to the UCLA-to-WNBA pipeline for advice. She’s exchanged texts with Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada, who went fifth overall in the 2018 draft, as well as Chicago Sky forward Michaela Onyenwere, a close teammate of Osborne’s at UCLA, who went sixth overall in 2021.
“They’ve always been so nice to me and are always texting me before and after games or asking me if I need anything to just call them or text them,” Osborne said. “I’ll probably just talk to them, ask for tips or ask them about their experience, especially as a rookie.”
As a pro, Osborne hopes to make an impact not just on the court, but as a beacon of representation for the kids that look like her and have a dream to play like she did when she first picked up a basketball as a 9-year-old. As she makes the transition from the college ranks to the pros, Osborne isn’t looking too far into the future. Instead, she’s remaining present for the moment she’s dreamed of since she was in the sixth grade.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes offensively, defensively, whatever is needed of me,” Osborne said. “Obviously it’s going to be an adjustment and the pace and change is going to be different. But I’m going to try my hardest to do whatever is asked of me and try to be consistent in that.”
