Composed of four rounds, the NWSL Draft was a mechanism by which NWSL franchises are able to select college athletes from the NCAA and the NAIA who are in their senior season in college or have exhausted their collegiate eligibility.[1] In total, 12 NWSL college drafts were held from the 2013 NWSL College Draft until the final 2024 NWSL Draft. In August 2024, the draft was abolished as part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NWSL became the first major professional sports league in the United States to eliminate the draft system.[2]
In total there were 490 players from 101 different schools (100 colleges and one high school) selected in the NWSL College Draft. The North Carolina Tar Heels hold the all-time record for most players drafted with 27 players. 26 schools have had only one player selected. The most selections from one college team in a single draft is six, achieved three times: by the UCLA Bruins in 2015, Duke Blue Devils in 2018 and North Carolina Tar Heels in 2024.[3][4] The Virginia Cavaliers and Stanford Cardinal remain the only teams to have players drafted in all 12 NWSL Drafts.
40 college teams have had at least one player drafted in the first round. Stanford Cardinal hold the all-time record for first round picks with 12 in total. The most first-round picks from one college team in a single draft is three which has happened on six occasions: UCLA Bruins in 2015, Florida State Seminoles in both 2016 and 2023, USC Trojans in 2017, Stanford Cardinal in 2019 and North Carolina Tar Heels in 2024.[3][5][6][7][8] Five colleges have produced first overall picks: Stanford Cardinal (4), North Carolina Tar Heels (3), Virginia Cavaliers (2), UCLA Bruins (1), and Wisconsin Badgers (1). In 2023, Alyssa Thompson became the first high school player selected in an NWSL Draft when she was taken first overall out of Harvard-Westlake School (1).[9]