Nell Angloma landed in New York on Sunday with her family, a day before she is expected to attend the WNBA 2026 draft ceremony at the Shed on Monday night. The 19-year-old French guard said it is her first trip to the United States, calling it an unfamiliar setting but one she is handling with the people closest to her.
Angloma is projected to go somewhere between the seventh and 12th picks, a range that reflects how quickly her stock has risen after a season of production in France. At 1.80 meters, she brought size and scoring punch to Lattes-Montpellier in the Boulangère Wonderligue, and she was at one point the league’s No. 1 player in evaluation.
That rise was not built on one game. She scored 29 points in Lyon in mid-October, then set a personal best with 31 against Angers two months later. She also had 28 points in an EuroCup game. Across her first professional season with BLMA, she averaged 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds before jumping to 15.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists, a leap that helped put her on the draft radar in a real way.
The context around Angloma is bigger than one night in New York. She won four medals in five youth national team campaigns, including the U16 European title in 2022 and the U18 European title in 2024, when she was also named MVP. She began playing basketball at three years and a half with Évreux, then moved through the French system while building toward the game she wants to play at the next level.
Her path has not been a mystery to those who have watched it closely. Cathy Melain said Angloma’s game is not yet complete, even after the forward made clear strides in the 2025-2026 season. Melain’s view matches the evidence: Angloma can score, rebound and create, but her outside shooting remains the main piece she wants to sharpen for the WNBA.
Angloma said she started thinking about the league as a goal during her first year at INSEP in 2022-2023, after watching Iliana Rupert, Carla Leite, Leïla Lacan and Dominique Malonga make the jump. Malonga, a former teammate on French youth national teams, was drafted No. 2 by Seattle in 2025, proof that the door can open fast for the right French prospect. Angloma was also called to the French senior national team for the first time in November, another sign that her development is no longer limited to age-group success.
What makes Monday night matter is that Angloma is no longer being measured only by promise. She arrived in New York as a projected first-round pick, armed with a strong season, a résumé of youth medals and a game that has already carried her into France’s top tier. The question now is not whether she belongs in the conversation, but how high the league will take her when the picks start coming off the board.
