Kelsey Plum will have her No. 10 jersey retired by the University of Washington during the upcoming season, the school announced on Friday. She will be the first women’s basketball player in school history to have her number retired.
Washington will begin its “Forever 10” celebration honoring Plum’s impact on the Huskies’ athletic program and women’s basketball during Saturday’s homecoming football game versus USC between the first and second quarter. Plum’s jersey will be retired when the Huskies host Purdue on Nov. 18.
“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,” Plum said in the school’s official announcement.
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.”
Plum, who played for the Huskies from 2013-17, won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, led the conference in scoring average for three consecutive seasons, and led the nation in scoring as a senior. Her 57 points versus Utah in 2017 set a school record. She was the leading scorer in Division I women’s basketball with 3,527 points until Caitlin Clark surpassed her this year, finishing with 3,951 points.
As a junior, Plum led the Huskies to their first Final Four appearance in program history and was named third-team AP All-American. During her senior season, she won numerous honors during her senior year, including Pac-12 Player of the Year, the John R. Wooden Award, the Dawn Staley Award and Naismith College Player of the Year, and she was named first-team AP All-American.
Following her college career, Plum was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the then-San Antonio Stars. The team became the Las Vegas Aces in her second season and won two consecutive WNBA championships in 2022-23. This past summer, Plum won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team.
Plum will be the fifth athlete in school history to have their jersey retired, joining Bob Houbregs, Brandon Roy and Isaiah Thomas in men’s basketball, in addition to Courtney Thompson and Krista Vansant in volleyball.
