SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 will have 20 former women's basketball student-athletes on WNBA opening-day rosters entering the 2022 season, which tips off on Friday. The conference is represented by seven of its 12 members and on 10 of 12 WNBA franchises.

In comparing conference totals, the Pac-12 is fourth behind the ACC, which enters the WNBA season with a total of 26 on rosters, the SEC (23) and Big Ten (22). Based on per-membership averages, the Pac-12 is second among all leagues with 1.67 per school (ACC - 1.73).

In addition to the former standouts on team rosters, the Pac-12 is the only collegiate league with multiple alumnae as WNBA head coaches. UCLA's Noelle Quinn is in her second season leading the Seattle Storm and Stanford's Vanessa Nygaard was hired to coach the Phoenix Mercury in late January.

The Pac-12 saw three players selected in the 2022 WNBA Draft, including three of the first eight picks. It was the fourth time the Pac-12 had three first-round selections (1997 College Draft, 2000 College Draft, 2020) and the second time it has boasted three of the draft's first eight selections (2020). The conference has had multiple first rounders in six consecutive drafts, an active streak that leads all leagues by three years. The SEC has had multiple first rounders in three consecutive drafts.

The WNBA season kicks off with four games tonight beginning with Washington hosting Indiana at 4 p.m. PT (Facebook) followed by Los Angeles at Chicago at 5 p.m. PT (NBA TV), Las Vegas at Phoenix at 7 p.m. PT (NBA TV) and Minnesota at Seattle at 7 p.m. PT (Twitter).