Get to know the Kiwi basketball players who made NCAA history

A New Zealand national from both the men's and women's college basketball teams has been crowned NCAA Champions for the first time since the tournament's inception in 1939. UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker and Michigan forward Oscar Goodman , both number five and both from the North Island, are celebrating their career achievements as the "goats of New Zealand. " "Great week to be a Kiwi," Leger-Walker captioned a photo of Goodman on her Instagram account shortly after her own title win with the Bruins.

The UCLA guard took part in two firsts this season: the first title win for UCLA and the first Kiwi woman to win a US college basketball title, much less an NCAA Championship. She did so just before her departure from the team. She and five other seniors are slated to leave the Los Angeles team before the start of the 2026-27 season and vie for a spot in professional ball.

Goodman has confirmed his return to the Wolverines next season, stating he hopes to play a bigger role in the team's success in his following three years at the University of Michigan. UCLA's Leger-Walker makes NCAA history Leger-Walker, 24, scored 10 points for the Bruins in the championship game against the No. 1-seed South Carolina on Sunday, April 5.

This is the guard's first and only active year on the team. She transferred to UCLA as a business major from Washington State for her fifth season of eligibility, granted due to games lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, and redshirted during her first year at UCLA to recover from an ACL injury. The UCLA player said in a recent YouTube vlog that she had never made it past the first round in March Madness before, marking this season as "surreal.