FOLSOM, Calif. — A Folsom High School alumna and small forward was drafted Monday into the WNBA.
McKenzie Forbes, 23, was picked fourth in the third round — 28th overall — by the Los Angeles Sparks. She currently attends University of Southern California (USC) to receive her master’s in entrepreneurial studies. She previously graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s in sociology, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Forbes made it to the Elite Eight with USC in this year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament, but the team was eliminated by the University of Connecticut.
“Her basketball talent is immense, but her IQ and leadership are off the charts,” said Lynn Wolking, head coach of girls’ basketball who just completed his 14th season at Folsom.
Forbes started on varsity as a freshman at Folsom, Wolking told ABC10. She was always fully committed to the Folsom program, put the team first and cared about winning, he said.
“Her self-confidence and ability to think about the big picture allows her to meet every challenge head on,” he said. “She helped put Folsom girls basketball on the map several years ago, and we haven’t stopped.”
Wolking said by the time Forbes was a senior in 2018, Folsom was elite enough to face off in open division competition within the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).
Forbes’ father, Sterling Forbes, served as Folsom’s assistant coach during his daughter’s tenure with the team. He told ABC10 the Folsom team hadn’t made the playoffs in 10 years prior to his daughter joining the team; after she joined, the team went to the CIF’s Division 1 playoffs each of the four years she played.
Forbes was named a McDonald's All-American player in 2018, according to MaxPreps.
She played in the McDonald's All-American Game in March 2018 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on the West Team, which beat the East Team, 82-79, according to the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. Forbes won the three-point contest during the McDonald's All-Star Showcase.
Basketball runs in the Forbes family. Sterling Forbes’ career before coaching at Folsom included playing basketball in college, professionally in South America and with the Harlem Globetrotters.
His father, McKenzie Forbes’ grandfather, was picked second in the 11th round of the 1960 NBA draft, 76th overall, by the Los Angeles Lakers but only played in the preseason due to an injury. He was not re-signed in 1961 and ended up playing for the Globetrotters.
McKenzie’s brother, Mason Forbes, played in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament with St. Mary’s College; he now plays professional basketball in Australia.
Family is a major factor in McKenzie Forbes’ success, her father said.
“Having three older brothers playing in the backyard, park (or) at the gym…helped her develop her game,” Sterling Forbes said. “She played on boys teams growing up. She was always playing at a high level. She started trying to dribble a basketball at age 3.”
