Oliva Miles came into the WNBA with a ton of hype as a bona fide NCAA star and the No. 2 overall draft pick of the 2026 sesason. Becoming only the sixth rookie to win Rookie of the Year by unanimous vote was a confirmation that she had lived up to the hype and more. Yet, after winning the coveted ROTY, Miles revealed that initially she felt quite lost.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Because I never actually knew what I was doing… Kind of fake it till you make it, and obviously have Hall of Famers on staff and future Hall of Famers that I’m playing with.”
“And so I have no choice but to be curious and to ask them what the heck is going on at times, and being in back now, what I’m talking about. But yeah, they’ve gotten me in such amazing ways and have really allowed me to have this success early on,” Miles told reporters while talking about her performances in the ROTY press conference.
The numbers the rookie put up and the way she filled Napheesa Collier’s shoes in the first half of the season, you’d think that she didn’t need advice. She averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.3 steals per game this season, leading the Lynx in points and assists.
Even early in the season in June, ESPN analyst Andraya Carter gave us a hint of what lay ahead for Miles, as she showered the rookie with praise.
“Talking about Olivia Miles, it’s hard for me to even pick what my favorite thing has been with her game so far this season, because I’ve been impressed by so many aspects of her game. Her pace, her poise, her passing, Olivia Miles’ ability to completely control the game with the ball in her hands.”
“Whether she’s in transition, whether she’s coming off of ball screens, she can operate; she’s already connected to her teammates, she knows their spots, she can get to the rim off of the ball screen action. It’s fascinating.”
Initially, Nobody expected the Lynx to be the top seed this season. However, while Napheesa Collier was recovering from her double ankle surgery and was unavailable until a week before the All-Star Game on July 25, 2026, Miles took on the playmaking responsibilities for the Lynx.
Earlier in the season, Miles shattered Caitlin Clark’s record for the most points in a rookie season and has finished the regular season with 790 points, surpassing Clark’s 769. She has already earned an All-Star starter nod and looks very likely to make it to the All-WNBA First Team.
Olivia Miles seamlessly transitioned from College basketball star to WNBA ROTY
Even before she entered the WNBA, Miles had a solid college career to back it up. At Notre Dame, where Miles played for four years, from 2021 to 2025, she accumulated a staggering 1,430 career points and added 654 assists, 605 rebounds, and 171 steals as well. The trust in her ability to play in that point guard position was evidenced by the fact that she started 95 of her 101 games.
In the 2024-25 season, Miles averaged 15 points, five assists, and five rebounds per game, while shooting 40% from beyond the arc, thus making her the only player across the country to put up those numbers.
After transferring to TCU for her final season of eligibility, Miles averaged 19.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game across 38 starts. This made Miles the only returning player to score at least 1,400 career points, 600 assists, and 600 rebounds, and the only Division I player to put up at least 25 career double-doubles and five triple-doubles.
So for Carter, Miles already had the playbook to excel in the WNBA. She did not have any need to “fake it.”
“The same things we were seeing Olivia Miles doing at TCU last year in college. She is executing those same plays for the Minnesota Lynx at the next level, and she’s doing it beautifully and masterfully,” Carter added.
However, the Lynx are now staring down the barrel of an early exit. The rookie’s confidence took a hit as she faced the pressure of a WNBA playoff game for the first time.
Yet now more than ever, Miles and Co. must find a way to level the series against the New York Liberty. Fans will hope that Miles just plays her natural game, like she has done all season, and improves on her 11-point outing from Game 1 on September 26.