As Monday night’s WNBA Draft came to a close, Ivy League fans had something to cheer about when former Penn forward Jordan Obi’s name was called by the defending champion Las Vegas Aces with the 44th pick.
The Hartford, Conn. native was a member of the Quakers from 2020 to 2024 but missed her rookie campaign due to the Ivy League shutdown early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Obi transferred to Kentucky to use her remaining year of eligibility in 2024-25. Due to a lower leg injury that resulted in a missed season, she finished up her college career in Lexington this past year.
While Obi was one of four Kentucky players to be selected in the 2026 WNBA Draft, she became the first ever Penn player to be chosen.
In a statement to the Daily Pennsylvanian, head coach Mike McLaughlin said, “Jordan has been rewarded for the endless amount of work she has poured into her game. So proud of what she has accomplished. Her natural talent and her love for the game is so noticeable when you watch her compete.”
During her time with the Red and Blue, Obi amassed 1,142 points, 88 three-pointers, 631 rebounds, 165 assists, 85 blocks and 72 steals in 83 games. She was the 25th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points and became the seventh fastest to do so in just 74 games.
For her efforts, the 6-foot-1 forward was selected to multiple All-Ivy and All-Big 5 teams, earning spots on the first teams in 2023-24 and the second teams the previous two years.
At Kentucky, she started 25 of 36 games as a guard, averaging nine points a game on a career-high 51.8% shooting and six rebounds per contest.
While Obi never made it past the semifinal round of the Ivy League Tournament at Penn, she managed to make it to the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament with the Wildcats.
In discussing the pick with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Aces’ general manager Nikki Fargas praised Obi’s motor and effort, calling her a “high-motor player who gives maximum effort every night and sets the tone with her energy and hustle.”
Obi becomes the second Ivy League player taken by the Aces in the last two seasons, following last year’s selection of Harvard’s Harmoni Turner, who was released just before training camp ended and spent her rookie season playing in France.
In addition to Obi and Turner, the Ivy League has been well represented in the WNBA Draft with multiple players getting selected, including Allison Feaster from Harvard, Bella Alarie, Abby Meyers, Kaitlyn Chen and Leslie Robinson from Princeton and Abbey Hsu and Kaitlyn Davis from Columbia. In addition, undrafted Tigers great Blake Dietrick played five seasons in the “W” and Harvard’s Katie Benzan made the Opening Day roster with the Washington Mystics in 2022.
Woo-hoo! Jordan Obi is a tremendously versatile and dogged player, and she carried the Quakers to many of their wins during her three Ivy years, whether hitting threes or muscling her way around the hoop. She plays with passion and power, and without showboating. The numbers are stacked against the vast majority of players drafted in the WNBA, but if she gets a toehold I wouldn’t be shocked to see Jordan stick on the roster, and I hope she has as long a pro career as she desires.