From coast to coast, former UCLA guards Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker are beginning their professional journeys with the Connecticut Sun, and both are full of potential.
Kneepkens and Leger-Walker are coming off a national championship run with UCLA. They only lost one game the entire season against Texas, but then got vengeance with a win over the Longhorns in the Final Four.
The two players know what it takes to win a title and what a championship culture looks like, something the Sun are trying to build towards.
Sun’s the limit
Ever since head coach Rachid Meziane stepped into his position with the Sun in December 2024, he’s talked about building a championship culture.
Entering the 2026 season, his plans still remain the same, even with the uncertainty around what the team will look like when it is relocated to Houston for the 2027 season.
On draft night, when Sun general manager Morgan Tuck spoke to the media, she emphasized that Meziane wants to have a flowing offense and that they were looking for players with a high IQ to help execute his vision. Kneepkens and Leger-Walker caught Tuck and Meziane’s eyes with how they found ways to impact a UCLA roster that had a lot of depth.
Tuck also said that they aren’t just good basketball players that fit into their system stylistically, but that who they are as people is also important to what they are trying to build for the team’s future.
“So first of all, they have potential,” Meziane told The IX Basketball with a subtle laugh. “So I think that is very important. … They’re coming from a big program; they already won a championship. And it’s also something we want, and we expect from them, is to bring their winning culture.”
Kneepkens spent four years at Utah before transferring to UCLA for her final year of eligibility. While at Utah, her ability to shoot led to an increase in points per game each year. She began her time in Utah scoring 11.8 points per game as a freshman and capped it off by averaging 19.3 points per game during the 2024-25 season.
Meziane praised her for her “very good shooting ability,” which is something the Sun needed with the loss of guard Marina Mabrey to the Toronto Tempo in this year’s expansion draft. He also has a lot of confidence that Kneepkens will be able to finish plays and fit well into the team’s system.
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“Based on how we want to play, we will have a lot of ball movement and some things to create, good opportunities to score,” Meziane said. “So, I want Gianna to be ready to finish our plays, and defensively, she’s smart, so she can understand how to position herself on the court. I mean, I don’t want to overcomplicate her role.”
In the first week of training camp, Meziane gave recognition to Leger-Walker for her basketball IQ and court vision as a point guard. He mentioned her ability to control the tempo of the game, knowing when to increase or decrease the speed, and how well she can read ball screens.
Meziane wants defense to be a part of the team’s identity, and Leger-Walker’s ability to be physical and defend one-on-one is something that has caught the coaching staff’s attention.
“Charlisse, she’s someone who can organize. She’s already for me, a floor general,” Meziane said.
On draft night, Tuck gave a nod to Leger-Walker, as she is often overlooked as a player, especially defensively.
“I think the pace that she plays at in her toughness on both sides of the ball, I think she’s sort of an underrated defender,” Tuck told reporters. “Obviously, she can space the floor; she can get to the rim. She’s a little crafty. So I think when you look at a point guard, I think she fits a lot of the things that we would want, and we think that she can bring a lot of value to.”
It is only the first week of training camp practices, so Meziane hasn’t seen too much of the rookies’ skills yet, but he said he sees them “really having an impact” in the league, especially with their shooting capabilities.
College chemistry carrying over to the WNBA
Kneepkens and Leger-Walker weren’t just teammates at UCLA but also roommates, allowing their bond to become even stronger.
“She’s just a really cool person,” Kneepkens told reporters of Leger-Walker. “She just really cares about her people, and we just get along super well. We’re very similar, just like in our vibes, I guess, just very chill, can do anything.”
Kneepkens told reporters that it is somewhat “weird” not having Leger-Walker as a roommate in Connecticut, but that isn’t stopping them from spending just as much time together.
“Well, we basically live together, I mean, she’s in my room every day,” Leger-Walker said jokingly in response to being asked about no longer living with Kneepkens. “… It’s not even different, because at home, we had different rooms, but here it’s kind of the same, we’re just in a big hotel.”
The two are on the same page, so much so that they collectively procrastinated packing up their Los Angeles apartment and had to do it all in one day. Kneepkens described this as her “punch me in the face moment” and said it was “on her” for feeling that way since she waited to pack.
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The friendship Leger-Walker and Kneepkens have built has created a foundation for their chemistry on the court, something that can’t be taught and will be helpful to this young Sun roster.
“It’s always about chemistry and connection,” Meziane said. “So [the] more they have this connection, [the] more it will be easier for them to impact and to contribute to the team. And I heard that they were roommates, so it means that they really have this strong connection. And you can see on the court that a lot of things are very natural for them. Charlisse knows where [and] when Gianna is cutting to the rim. … For me, it’s like we are just winning time when we have players who already have these connections.
Last season, the Sun gained momentum coming out of the WNBA All-Star break, and things finally started to click on the court, despite what their record showed. There was a clear difference in how they were playing, especially after the addition of guard Leila Lacan, who joined the team roughly midway through the season due to overseas obligations.
The shift that the team felt was partially due to the chemistry that progressively developed between players. Leger-Walker and Kneepkens are in sync and bring even more of that same type of energy.
“I think just having automatic trust with each other makes it really easy,” Kneepkens said. “I mean, we can talk to each other about anything, basketball, not basketball. So, I think just having someone like that is super helpful. And then obviously on the court, just knowing where each other are, and being used to playing with each other, helps. But we’re also having fun just learning other players and getting to know where their spots are, too.”
Adjusting to Connecticut
In addition to helping with on-court chemistry, the pair’s friendship has also made their adjustment to Connecticut smoother. Leger-Walker has enjoyed having Kneepkens by her side through this transitional period.
“Oh, it’s literally been the best thing ever,” Leger-Walker said with a big smile. “I don’t know what I would have done without her here. The transition, knowing you have a sister, roommate, all of the things, and someone who you can just talk to and rely on, and you kind of understand what each other is going through, it’s been really nice, and I’m super grateful that we have that opportunity to do that together.”
Kneepkens added that going through the same experience as Leger-Walker, along with the other four fellow Bruins who were drafted this year, has been special, noting their support has made it a lot easier for her to navigate this new chapter.
“Oh, it’s been awesome just because we’re going through the exact same thing,” Kneepkens said. “It’s really nice. So, we hang out a lot, we talk through things a lot, and … it is very nice to have her here.”
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Rookie season goals
As their professional careers in the WNBA begin, both will be met with the challenges of a faster, more physical style of basketball. Kneepkens and Leger-Walker believe they are ready to take on whatever adversity they face in their rookie seasons, something playing on one of the biggest stages – the Final Four – has prepared them for.
“I actually think it’s a bit more intense than I thought it would be, just from hearing about different training camps and stuff, but not super surprising,” Leger-Walker said. “And just the basketball concepts … a lot of that I’ve kind of learned before, but probably just that the intensity and just coming in knowing, no one’s really holding your hand, you got to make sure you’re ready to go, because when you step on the court, you got to be 100%.”
Kneepkens hasn’t been too surprised by the next level yet, but most of that confidence stems from the fact that she came from a strong college program.
“I mean, I don’t think it surprised me, but I think you can’t fully know it until you’re in it,” Kneepkens said. “But just the intensity, the physicality, it is (challenging) because you’re playing against very experienced women, but it’s fun, and as a competitor, that’s the environment you want to be in.”
In just the first week of training camp, she has already outlined her goals for the season and defined the role she wants to fill on the team.
“I just want to be a great teammate that does anything the team needs,” she said. “I want to help the team win, but that’s really my biggest focus, is just doing what it takes to help the team and just be super competitive.”
Despite their lives changing so quickly, they haven’t taken any of it for granted. Last Saturday, a day after arriving in Connecticut, they sat in Leger-Walker’s hotel room together for hours processing everything they had experienced in the last month.
“We took a moment to reflect and also just be grateful for where we’re at right now, and just refresh and kind of get re-excited to step into this next part of our journey, knowing that this is almost the beginning of a whole other thing coming,” Leger-Walker said.