Lisa Willis (2025) - Hall of Fame

Lisa Willis

Induction:
2025

The MVP of the 2006 Pac-10 Tournament, Lisa Willis led UCLA to its first-ever conference tournament title, scoring 20 points with six steals, five rebounds and four assists in the championship game after totaling 27 points and six steals in the semifinal and 14 points and seven steals in the quarterfinal. She set a tournament record with 19 steals and tied the record with 11 made three-pointers. Willis was named an honorable mention AP All-American and a third-team All-American by Women's Basketball News Service in 2006. She earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors twice and led the conference in steals in each of her last three seasons, becoming the first player in UCLA history to record three-straight seasons with 100 or more steals. Willis finished her career as UCLA's all-time leader in three-point shots made (256, second all-time in the Pac-10 at the time) and the Pac-10's all-time leader in steals (368). Her 1,677 career points still ranks 15th all-time at UCLA. In 2005, she won gold with Team USA at the World University Games, scoring 13 points in the gold medal match. Willis was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks as the fifth pick overall in the 2006 WNBA Draft and played in the league for four seasons, leading the WNBA in three-pointers in 2008 while playing for the New York Liberty. She moved into coaching following her playing career and served as head coach of Montreat College in 2014. In 2019, she became the first female hired by the New York Knicks in a coaching capacity when she was hired as an assistant for their G League team, the Westchester Knicks.