After just her freshman year, Kiwi basketball star Charlisse Leger-Walker has been ranked among the best college basketballers in the US. She tells Shontelle Montano how she stays zen amidst the din.
Charlisse Leger-Walker is used to having all eyes on her.
She’s being doing interviews since she was 15 and routinely spoke to over 1200 people as head girl at St Peter’s College in Cambridge. At 16, she made her debut for the Tall Ferns at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The backyard battles with her sisters; the lessons from her parents, Leanne and Eliu, on how to present herself; playing in older age-group teams; the guidance of her older sister Krystal; and her one unofficial media training in a physical education class.
They’ve all been stepping stones for her success in her first season in US college basketball this year.
The excitement and praise echoes around Leger-Walker – there have been comparisons to outstanding young WNBA player Sabrina Ionescu; her college coach calls her one of America’s best players; and the people in her college town of Pullman, Washington, recognise her in the street.
She’s just been named at No.17 in a list of the top 25 women’s college baketballers for next season by ESPN.
But much like her game – smooth and poised – she always finds inner peace.
Everything for Leger-Walker is composed. Even the music she listens to before a game, the way she conducts interviews after a remarkable performance, and the daily to-do list she must get done.
This has given her the edge over anyone who decides to challenge the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
But there’s one thing that she has control over, that she has beaten well before she steps foot on the court.
She’s won the mental game.
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Two years ago, Leger-Walker was an independent consultant at Arbonne, a cosmetics and healthcare brand. Eighteen years old, fresh out of high school and waiting for her opportunity to play at Washington State University.
During this time, she was introduced to the ‘power hour’, where she would wake up every morning, meditate, stretch and workout. Then she'd write down what she was grateful for and the goals and intentions she had for the day. “It put me in a positive mindset and made me a bit happier,” she says.
She would think to herself I want to be better today than I was yesterday.
Two years later, having finished her historic freshman year, she continues to follow it. It’s something that’s helped her feel relaxed on the court and helped her organisation off it.
Throughout the season, she only has four hours of free time. The rest of her day is spent training, playing basketball, going into the gym to do extra shooting sessions, completing homework, or attending college classes for environmental science and business.
So dedicating time for herself is important.
When she gets the chance, she’ll get together at one of her teammates’ apartments to watch movies, like the entire Marvel series. Or she’ll walk to her older sister Krystal’s apartment five minutes away to hang out. Or talk to her family back home in the Waikato, who she’s called throughout the season in moments of home sickness.
These things make her feel calm.
“I know people probably think it’s weird, but I like listening to slow music before a game. I know so many athletes will listen to hard core music before games to get them pumped up. I listen to chill music to get my heart rate down,” she says.
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For Leger-Walker, it’s a way of getting into the zone.
The kid from Waikato - a place known more for its farming and dairy industry than basketball - dominated College hoops this season, including leading her to team to victory over fifth-ranked UCLA.
No other New Zealand player has had a season like she has.
Leger-Walker was selected in the All-Pac 12 team, in the best conference in the nation. She was named honourable mention All-American - the first time ever Washington has had a player selected in the team.
She finished the regular season averaging 19.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.3 steals. On top of this she was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week seven times.
In the history of women's college basketball, there's only been one freshman who's led the Pac-12 in points per game at the end of the regular season: Charlisse Leger-Walker, with 407.
That’s why it’s not surprising she’s projected to be the greatest basketball player New Zealand has ever produced. With that comes expectation and pressure. She embraces that.
“Pressure is a privilege. Pressure is only applied to people who are in positions where they can make something happen,” she says.
Even as she goes through her own challenges, Leger-Walker is always thinking about how to help those around her. She’s thankful to be in a position where she can inspire the next generation of basketball talent, which includes being a part of the Tall Ferns Girls Got Game programme.
“It’s more than just you and that’s how I like to think of pressure. It’s about everyone else, it’s about my team, it’s about people who I’m doing this for,” she says.
One person who has been in Leger-Walker’s corner is her head coach at Washington State, Kamie Ethridge, who says the young Kiwi has “distinguished herself as one of America’s best players in a conference filled with greatness.”
And the admiration is mutual. “She’s an amazing coach,” Leger-Walker says. “I respect her a lot and she’s just awesome to be around every day. It’s so cool knowing your coach has your back and sees that potential in you.”
The support for Leger-Walker and her team has been huge. “It’s been crazy. I don’t think I’ve received more emails or texts than I have this season, from people I don’t even know,” she says.
Leger-Walker is aware of the impact social media can have on someone in the spotlight. She knows that it can be “overwhelming.” She knows that relying on this external praise can be dangerous.
But the confidence she has in herself and the belief that she’s exactly where she’s meant to be is what allows her to prosper in every situation.
“I know for some people [what other people say] is a big cause of stress and anxiety. So, seeing how people react, I’ve learnt to not take it to heart because they don’t control what you do. You just have to trust that you’re on the right path.”
It isn’t just fans that recognise how great Leger-Walker is.
“She’s an absolute phenom. When you speak of New Zealand basketball trailblazers, I would absolutely have her top of that list,” says Megan Compain, New Zealand’s first and only WNBA player,
Compain who played alongside Leger-Walker’s mother Leanne for the Tall Ferns at the 2000 Olympics, says since watching Charlisse play in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, she knew she was going to be special.
“She’s got incredible maturity and a high basketball IQ. I think what impresses me the most about the way that she plays is that everything looks quite effortless,” Compain says.
“She knows what she wants, and she wants to make the WNBA. The way that she’s developing and the fact that she has three more years in a big college programme against some of the best competition in the US, I have no doubt that she will be the next woman from New Zealand to play in the WNBA.”
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Leger-Walker returns to New Zealand next month.
She’s looking forward to seeing her family and friends and can’t wait to eat her mum’s silverbeet pie. “It’s gonna be the first thing I have when I come home,” she says.
She won’t forget to pick up the kumara fries she’s been missing or some fish and chips. And she’ll be happy to get out in nature. “I miss the weather and being able to go one way and you’re at a waterfall, and then go another way and you’re at a beach.”
After a sensational season, she deserves a break. But it is likely you will find her in the backyard still shooting hoops, still putting in work for next season. Still finding calmness through it all.
Success can be the spectacular feats and the weekly awards, but for Leger-Walker it’s more of a feeling. It’s overcoming moments when being on the other side of the world became too much and all she wanted to do was come home.
It’s finding moments of happiness. It’s knowing that every day she’s living her purpose. And knowing that today will be better than yesterday.
Above all she’s achieved, that’s what she’s most proud of.
“I could win all these awards but still be disappointed in how I performed, but if I put everything out there, then I think that’s a successful season. I think success is how content you are with who are you are right now,” she says.
Everything has aligned for Leger-Walker. The transition to college, the chance to play with her sister, and the small community in Pullman that reminds her of home.
From the moment she wakes up, she knows she has won the day.
