UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — NaLyssa Smith can now say she's a college graduate.
Smith, who plays for the Las Vegas Aces, graduated from Baylor on Friday, four years after leaving the school for the WNBA. It’s not uncommon for rookies in the WNBA to potentially miss their graduations as they leave school early to play in the league. It's rare when one goes back and gets her degree so many years later.
She played at Baylor from 2018-22, winning a national championship in 2019 and earning AP first-team All-America honors in 2021 and 2022. Smith left the school a few classes short from earning her degree in health and kinesiology.
“It means everything to me,” Smith told the AP after Las Vegas beat Connecticut 101-94 on Friday night. “It was something my parents were really big on and my grandma before she passed away, she really want me to graduate, so it was something I knew I had to do.”
Smith said that she had mentioned to Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon the possibility of walking at graduation, but the coach said that basketball was the priority right now.
“You got to respect it,” Smith said.
Hammon said that she wished the ceremony had been earlier in the day and that they didn't have a game that night so Smith could have been able to be in Texas for the ceremony.
“I think you have to celebrate people’s wins, even the ones that they did off the court,” the coach said before the game. “ And that’s a huge accomplishment. I mean, the fact that it was important enough for her to finish that job. A lot of people just go to school and they never get into they even they never go back. And she’s somebody who just continued to work towards that. There’s that resiliency and stick to it.”
Smith, who had four points in Friday's win, said that she would be able to go to Baylor in December and walk then. It’s not uncommon for rookies in the WNBA to potentially miss their graduations as they leave school early to play in the league.
Her teammates gave her flowers to help her celebrate the achievement since she couldn’t be in Waco, Texas with the game Friday night in Connecticut.
“Nobody has to do that. So it just shows their selflessness and just shows that they really care about me,” Smith said of her teammates. “I think it was big, I liked it, I appreciate it.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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