Looking Back at British Players in the WNBA This Season
On October 21st, New York Liberty won the 2024-2025 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) season in a gripping final against the Minnesota Lynx.
The final marked the end of a significant year for women’s basketball. Indeed, 2024 has been the biggest for women’s basketball yet and has increased interest in the WNBA, the top women’s basketball league in the world.
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, then a student at the University of Iowa and her counterpart Angel Rhys, formerly of Louisiana State University and now with the Chicago Sky, kick started a new era for the women’s game earlier this year.
Forbes reported this year’s “March madness”, an annual national college basketball tournament broke ESPN’s/ABC’s viewership record.
Above: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese during March Madness
The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division One Women’s Basketball Tournament’s Championship game between the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the University of South Carolina averaged 18.7 million viewers, an 89% increase from the year prior.
Furthermore, it was declared the most watched women’s basketball game of all time when the audience viewership reached its peak at 24 million viewers. This rapid increase was no small feat as it was greater than the viewership for multiple professional competitions including all the games of the 2023 World Series and the 2023 NBA Finals, two cornerstone events of the US sporting landscape.
This groundbreaking college basketball tournament gave way to a new era for the WNBA as several prominent names were drafted into the professional league soon after. While Clark and Rhys are undoubtedly two of the biggest standout players in the league, there are various talented expatriate players in the WNBA including several British ones.
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan – Phoenix Mercury
Above: Herbert Harrigan playing for Great Britain
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan is one of several British players in the WNBA. Harrigan was born in the British overseas territory of Anguilla and began her path to professional basketball playing for the University of South Carolina.
During the 2020 WNBA draft, Harrigan was selected in the first round as the sixth overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx. During her time with the Lynx, she averaged 3.8 points per game (ppg). After a short spell playing in Turkey, Harrigan returned to the WNBA joining the Seattle Storm but missed the rest of the season due to her pregnancy but was given paid maternity leave.
After playing for the London Lions in her native UK between 2022 and 2023 as well as a short time in Turkey once again, Harrigan made her second return to the WNBA in 2024 with her current team, the Arizona-based Phoenix Mercury. She currently averages 3.2 ppg with the team.
Temi Fagbenle – Indiana Fever
Above: Fagbenle playing for Great Britain
Temi Fagbenle was born in the United States to a Nigerian family before moving to London at the age of two, where she grew up. At 15, Fagbenle moved back to the US where she attended Blair Academy in New Jersey. She then impressively attended Harvard University for three years before transferring to the University of South Carolina, one of the best institutions for NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball.
After Graduating from Harvard in 2015, Fagbenle was part of the 2016 WNBA draft where she was selected in the 3rd round as the 35th overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx. Staying with the Lynx from 2017 to 2019, she then played for teams in Poland, Turkey, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic and England before returning to the WNBA upon being signed by the Indiana Fever in January 2024.
The Indiana Fever are the side that notably signed 2024 March Madness standout player Caitlin Clark making her and Fagbenle teammates. Fagbenle suffered a left foot injury while playing with the Fever in mid 2024. Despite this, she managed to get back on the court before the end of the season.
Karlie Samuelson – Washington Mystics
Above: Samuelson playing for Great Britain
Karlie Samuelson was born in Orange County California to a British mother and an American father who played basketball at college level and abroad. Attending Stanford between 2013 and 2017, Samuelson went undrafted upon graduating but managed her first WNBA contract with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2018, a team she has played for on three separate occasions throughout her professional career.
More recently, Samuelson was signed to the DC-based side the Washington Mystics before the 2024 WNBA season. Choosing to represent Britain on the international stage, Samuelson has appeared various times for the national team.
In 2018, Samuelson was part of Britain’s EuroBasket Women qualifier squad, eventually helping them secure a spot in the competition. During the continental tournament, she averaged 11.1 points, 4.4 assists and 2.9 rebounds.
Her sister Katie Lou Samuelson is also a professional basketball player currently with the Indiana Fever.
