Sold-out crowd honors Kelsey Plum’s career at the University of Washington

The enthusiastic crowd showed up Saturday, Jan. 18, to see Plum’s No. 10 jersey hung in the rafters, celebrating her college career that forever changed the Washington program.

Over her four-year career at UW, between 2013-2017, Plum set several NCAA records. She became the all-time NCAA scoring leader with 3,527 points (which stood until 2024), broke the 33-year-old NCAA career free throw record with 912, and broke the single-season NCAA scoring record with 1,109 points in 2016-2017 (which stood until end of 2023-24 season).

After leading the Huskies to their first and only Final Four appearance in 2016, Plum began to earn national recognition. In her senior season, Plum won numerous Player of the Year awards in addition to the Dawn Staley, Ann Meyers Drysdale, and Nancy Lieberman Awards. She also took home the Wade and Naismith Trophies. 

Plum continued to make the University of Washington proud, as she was picked No. 1 overall in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Stars (now Las Vegas Aces). She has since been named WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, a WNBA All-Star starter and All-WNBA First Team selection. She has also been a two-time WNBA Champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist.

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Plum’s accolades are undoubtedly impressive and represent just how generational her talent was. But for Washington, Plum will always be remembered for being the catalyst to forever changed a program and inspire engaging crowds, game after game.

Julie Baker, a member of the UW women’s basketball team from 1979-80 and a two-time national rowing champion in 1982 and ’83, always attended one or two basketball games per season after graduating from the university. When Washington started to win with Plum, she went more frequently. She, like most people who witnessed Plum play in college, was enamored.

“Her charisma, her leadership, not a ball hog — she knew all five people needed to play for her to be successful and … she always had a smile on her face,” Baker told The Next ahead of Saturday’s matchup. “She was competing with the men’s basketball team for fun, and they did a lot with the media that that made you want to come and watch her play.”

“It’s been awesome to follow her with the Olympics, from the 3×3 to the 5×5… just really special to watch her and still support the U as she’s been around the world perfecting her game,” Baker said.

Baker was able to witness many of Plum’s iconic collegiate moments, but the night she scored a career-high, and UW-record, 57 points to break Jackie Stiles’ DI record for career points stands out in her memory. It was Feb. 25, 2017 and the atmosphere was electric. Plum, however, remained unfazed.

“It was phenomenal,” Baker said. “The crowd was way behind her and she just graciously kept scoring. You know, she didn’t make this big ‘it’s all about me,’ and that’s what I really like about her.”

Katie Collier, Plum’s teammate of four years at UW and roommate of two, remembers that record-breaking night similarly for Plum’s humility.

“When she broke the record, senior night, it was just so much fun because if you look back and you watch that moment, if you just watch our bench, everyone is just more excited than she is,” Collier told The Next as she sat in Alaska Airlines Arena, surrounded by thousands of Forever 10 rally towels. “I think we were all so excited for her to break that record, and she was like, ‘oh, let’s just get it over with,’ and we’re just like, ’no, we want this for you, it’s fun for you!’ So that’s just a testament to today, how many people are coming out for her.”

Plum prefers to highlight team glory over individual success

For Plum, the memories that still stand out in her mind are not so much the moments when she broke personal records. Rather, the tournament runs and upset victories that her team achieved together resonate with her the most. For Plum, it’s never been about individual glory.

“I never really thought about it in the sense of, like, the jersey being hung and the records and things like that,” Plum told reporters minutes after her legacy was immortalized in Alaska Airlines Arena. “I just wanted to be the best I could be and just trying to push that limit … I’ve been in it for just like, the pursuit of trying to see how far I can take it.

“And so I look back now, and it’s really cool to have a full circle moment, to look back, and just say, man, like damn, that is a lot of points. I never thought about it, you know? … So I just appreciate that time of reflection. … So, just super grateful.”

Even during the day arranged entirely just to honor her, Plum found opportunities to honor and thank everyone involved in her journey along the way.

“I think the thing that stands out the most about this weekend is really just how much people stop their life to come celebrate you, and that, to me, is the ultimate gift, right? Just people’s time … for people to take the time to come here to celebrate with me, I feel honored,” Plum said.

For her teammates, like Collier, to be able to honor Plum was a joy. While Plum is known for her humility, it’s her competitiveness that drove her teammates, and the program, to be better.

“Kels is always, always out there to win and I always love that, appreciate that about her,” Collier said. “She’s so competitive and always a good, consistent teammate. No matter who we’re playing or anything, she just shows up. … I think today is a testament to see the effect [she had on the program], but Kelsey is just awesome. She’s loyal, she’s funny, she’s a great friend, and I’m just excited to celebrate her today.”

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The Plum effect has trickled down to UW’s current roster as well, where active players give credit Plum for helping shape the program into what it is today.

“She obviously is a great player, but she’s an even better person, and just seeing all the hard work that she’s done in the past to get to where she is now, I feel like that should be fuel for us,” UW senior forward Dalayah Daniels said after the game. “Because at the end of the day, basketball is very transferable to life. If you’re not working hard at what you want to accomplish, you’re not really gonna see the results. So, I think she’s just a great example for us.”

“I love watching Kelsey,” sophomore guard Sayvia Sellers said. “We’re both undersized guards, so it’s super motivating to see how hard she works to get where she’s at right now. I think that just helps me not get lost and just know, like you have to work hard to be where you want to be. So yeah, she’s a big motivator in my game.”

Plum shows she can still help bring enthusiasm to Washington

The arena atmosphere Plum attracted in college was electric, the kind of crowd every player wants to play in front of.

For Plum, creating that environment was simple. “We just started winning games and put people in seats and got them to stay.”

Without Plum, it hasn’t been as easy to draw an enthusiastic crowd at Washington. The California native played with a kind of charisma and joy that was infectious. She loved to interact with fans and always made time to sign autographs and take photos.

Washington has long been a popular environment for the women’s game. So, despite the Seattle Storm consistently drawing some of the best attendance in all the WNBA, since Plum’s departure, the UW crowds have not been the same. But Saturday provided players and fans a taste of what the home atmosphere could be like again.

Long before the crowd filled in, Collier knew the day was “a good opportunity to get more eyes on women’s basketball, which is what [Plum has] been about from the get go.”

And once the game started and Washington began an offensive onslaught, the crowd was hooked.

At the end of the first quarter, Washington held a commanding 27-9 lead over the visiting Purdue. The crowd seemed ready to explode after every single Washington point. Defensive stops, transition opportunities, sharp passing, three balls and and-one opportunities all caused the fans to erupt in cheers.

And with the crowd behind them, the Huskies could not be stopped. Daniels, a native of Seattle who watched Plum in her college heyday a few times on recruiting visits, noticed the difference.

“I mean, it honestly felt like back then, like it was just, it’s just really special,” Daniels said. “I think basketball is a fan favorite here in Seattle, like it’s such a big sport here, and everyone loves it, especially women’s basketball. So I’m just grateful to be in a city that really supports women’s sports, and it’s continued to grow.”

The growth is exactly what Plum wanted to tap into on her celebratory day.

“This is what support is and what it looks like, right?” Plum said. “Having a sold-out crowd come back and acknowledge someone that played here.”

The Huskies coasted to a 87-58 victory to bring their Big Ten record up to four wins and three losses on the season. Perhaps more important than winning in front of one of the biggest crowds the team has seen since Plum’s time on Montlake, however, is the simple fact that the Huskies entertained.

After the game, the floor was flooded with fans hoping to take pictures with the UW stars of today and to capture their autographs on signs and rally towels. The eight-minute mingle after home games is a staple of UW women’s basketball, but the swarm of fans hadn’t been that large in years.

“I heard our young women say, ‘I hope we play in a way that people want to come back,'” head coach Tina Langley said after the win. “I heard them say that before the game, and that’s just honoring the community. We want to play in a way that makes people proud and it does give us a tremendous advantage to have that type of [home] crowd.”

Eight years removed from her college playing days, Plum still inspires the biggest crowds to come watch UW women’s basketball. The Forever 10 jersey retirement ceremony provided the catalyst for fans to come out, and the players on the court demonstrated why they should keep showing up.

Wherever Plum’s career takes her, one thing remains certain — Seattle will always be proud she called the city home and blessed the University of Washington with her talent for four magical years.

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