Extra Mile for Smiles: Olivia Miles' Return Vindicated by WNBA Draft Hype

Going back to school paid dividends for TCU’s Olivia Miles, who has inserted herself into the top pick conversation at the 2026 WNBA Draft.

NEW YORK—No matter how gambling ads and offers assault the senses during broadcasts of this WNBA season, the companies involved still can’t offer the self-bet. TCU guard Olivia Miles faced no such problem and is cashing in.

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

With the shot clock turned off in the WNBA’s countdown to Monday’s draft (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), Miles has the makings of a coup at the top spot. Many have been quick to turn the No. 1 honor to national champions Lauren Betts and/or Azzi Fudd, or even international sensation Awa Fam, but Miles’ last miles have extended the conversation.

“I think the versatility that I bring is second to none, and I say that with confidence because I know and trust in my game and myself,” Miles said as several potential headlining picks spoke during their stay at The Luxury Collection Hotel Manhattan Midtown. “I think you won’t find a better player who makes the people around them better. Ultimately, it’s out of my hands. I can only campaign and petition for myself, but I think the film and my teammates, if you were to ask them to speak, speaks for itself.”

Miles in the Metroplex

The top pick likewise belongs to the metroplex, as the Dallas Wings are choosing first for the second straight season. Whether the Wings opt to add another ball-heavy point guard next to Paige Bueckers could dominate the final 48 hours before the draft, but Miles should also draw attention from other lottery participants, including the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics, and Chicago Sky, as well as expansion yields Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire.

Like many March movers, Miles found the fuel for a leap on the NCAA Tournament bracket. The former Notre Dame rep averaged 19 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 9.0 assists in the Horned Frogs’ tournament quartet, the output headlined by a 28-10-8 showing in the Sweet 16 triumph over Virginia.

The Horned Frogs fell to national runner-up South Carolina in the regional final but Fort Worth history is nonetheless on the line: Miles will likely become the fourth or fifth Frog to have her name written on a WNBA Draft card (teammate Marta Suárez is also expected to join the ranks) and it’s possible she’ll be the highest TCU alumna chosen (Sandora Irvin, third to Phoenix in 2005, holds the current record).

Miles Leads the Class in an Important Metric

Miles admitted that she can’t control such a fate, but she had full power to determine which lottery batch she’d be a part of: Miles was widely viewed as an early pick in last year’s draft, even after a knee injury kept her out of Notre Dame’s tournament run. She opted for the portal rather than the pick, heading south to Fort Worth after it reached its first women’s regional final in program history.

Vindication is perhaps the one metric that’s not measured by draft scouts, but Miles could well stand as the undisputed leader among the 36 chosen on Monday.

“I can’t even describe what this year did for me in words,” Miles said, also pleased by the fact that her first WNBA contract will be done under the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement. “I think mentally, physically, emotionally, everything that I was able to grow and to do and to cultivate out of myself get more potential out of myself before I was a pro [was huge]. I think I’m more ready. But this year has paid off in so many different ways, and I can’t wait for it to translate.”

It proved to be the right decision for reasons far beyond the luck of the Irish, as she kept the Big 12 Player of the Year honor in Fort Worth after Hailey Van Lith won it last time around. The hardware was valuable enough, but it was the happiness that perhaps pushed Miles over the top.

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Miles’ Draft Future Awaits

Following the aforementioned win over Virginia, Miles proclaimed that her Texas tour allowed her to get her “joy back” (h/t Charlotte Gibson, ESPN). She elaborated on the sensation in New York, also emphasizing the importance of maintaining it with her pro debut looming.

“The energy and the flow of the game, and just being present in basketball, is. It’s like chaos. It’s everything happening all at once,” Miles said in her definition. “But finding your joy and finding the flow of the game and throwing a dime and like feeling on top of the world, or making a 3-point shot and winning a game and not wanting it to be over. I think that’s the joy that I was looking for and ultimately doing with everyone around me.

“I felt like I needed to find that, so I didn’t view basketball as a job or a chore,” Miles continued. “When you view your job as a job, I feel like that’s when you should question what you’re doing, especially if it’s a sport that we play for fun, and ultimately sign up for for fun. Maintaining that through, obviously, it’s now more of a business than ever before. It’s going to be important just for me to enjoy and play my best.”

Her part of the bargain is taken care of, and now she simply sits back and waits for her draft night destiny. No matter where she’s selected, Miles promised that her eventual chooser would be getting “a high-IQ player who’s going to make their teammates better.”

“I think that it’s rare to find a true point guard in our game, and so I was just excited to bring that back to the league, bring that old school style back to the league,” Miles said. “Whatever team picks me up, it’s a belief, and it’s an appreciation, because they want me on their team and they want to invest in me. Wherever I go, truthfully, I just want a team to believe in me and have me as their point guard. I’ll be honored either way.”

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags