{"id":142896,"date":"2026-01-29T18:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/142896\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T18:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:00:35","slug":"stephanie-okechukwu-lauren-betts-and-the-tallest-womens-basketball-players-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/142896\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie Okechukwu, Lauren Betts and the tallest women’s basketball players ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NCAA<\/a> just got seven feet taller. Texas Tech women’s basketball announced in early January that they had signed Stephanie Okechukwu, a 7-foot-1 center out of Umunneochi, Nigeria. The 21-year-old will officially be the tallest player in NCAA women’s basketball history. Although, the question of when she will get to play for the Lady Raiders is still looming as we are still waiting for the NCAA to make an eligibility decision. <\/p>\n

Texas Tech associate coach Erik DeRoo spoke to media about Okechukwu, saying, “We all know that the headlines will be highlighted by her obvious height of 7-feet tall<\/a>, but Stephanie is an incredible person in every aspect of her life.” And he’s absolutely right, Okechukwu is more than just her height. He went on to elaborate on her “fantastic story.” Okechukwu attended high school at Fukuchiyama Seibi in Kyoto, Japan. She can speak three languages \u2014 English, Igbo, and Japanese. She also has aspirations of establishing a basketball camp <\/a>for young girls in her hometown. <\/p>\n

Obviously, with her history-making height, you can imagine what she will bring to the NCAA. Texas Tech head coach Krista Gerlich emphasized these talents, “Her ability to protect the rim and alter shots will be unique to one. She has great hands and touch around the basket and clearly will provide a big inside target at the rim<\/a>.” <\/p>\n

Stephanie Okechukwu is officially at the top of the height leaderboard in the NCAA, but who else is on that list? Here are the tallest women’s basketball players other than Okechukwu. <\/p>\n

Margo Dydek, 7-foot-2\"Margo<\/p>\n

Margo Didek Media Day Portrait | D. Clarke Evans\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Nicknamed “Large Marge,” Dydek still holds the title of tallest player in WNBA history. She did not play in the NCAA, but instead played professionally in Europe before being drafted first overall to the WNBA in 1998. Dydek also holds the all-time WNBA block record with 877 through her 11-seasons in the league. <\/p>\n

Han Xu, 6-foot-11\"Han<\/p>\n

2023 Commissioner’s Cup Championship – New York Liberty v Las Vegas Aces | David Becker\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Han Xu spent a few years with the New York Liberty as the tallest current player in the WNBA, but has since been focusing on her role with the Chinese National Team and playing in the Australian WBNL while also recovering from injury. <\/p>\n

Bernadett Hat\u00e1r, 6-foot-10\"Bernadett<\/p>\n

Bernadett Hatar of Valencia basket seen during the Liga… | SOPA Images\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Hat\u00e1r was signed as a free agent to the Indiana Fever in 2021. She spent the 2023 season with the Connecticut Sun, her rights were then traded to the Washington Mystics in 2024. Hat\u00e1r now plays overseas in Italy. <\/p>\n

Brittney Griner, 6-foot-9\"Brittney<\/p>\n

Connecticut Sun v Atlanta Dream | Adam Hagy\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Griner is currently the tallest player in the WNBA who was on an active roster this past year. Griner’s accolades could go on forever. She is an all-around dominant player in the paint, mostly because of her height. She is also one of the tallest players to come out of the NCAA, as she spent her collegiate years with Baylor. BG is second, behind Margo Dydek, in total career blocks, and is on track to break the record in the 2026 WNBA season. <\/p>\n

Liz Cambage, 6-foot-8\"Liz<\/p>\n

Minnesota Lynx v Los Angeles Sparks | Juan Ocampo\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

This Australian native was drafted second-overall to the Tulsa Shock in the 2011 WNBA Draft. She played in the league for 6 seasons, being named an All-Star in four of them. Cambage still holds the record for most points scored in a WNBA game with 53 against the New York Liberty in 2018. <\/p>\n

Haixia Zheng, 6-foot-8\"Haixia<\/p>\n

Haixia Zheng | Todd Warshaw\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Zheng joined the WNBA after being drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks in 1997. She only played two seasons in the W, but was considered a legend for her role on the Chinese national team through four Olympic Games. Zheng became the first Chinese player selected to the FIBA Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Maria Stepanova, 6-foot-8\"Maria<\/p>\n

1998 WNBA Finals – Game One: Houston Comets v Phoenix Mercury | Barry Gossage\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Stepanova was the eighth overall pick in the 1998 WNBA Draft, selected by the Phoenix Mercury. She played five total seasons with Phoenix and was a significant shot blocker.<\/p>\n

Kara Wolters, 6-foot-7\"Kara<\/p>\n

2000 Olympics: Cuba vs. USAB | Nathaniel S. Butler\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Kara Wolters career began at UConn, winning the NCAA National Championship in 1995 and AP National College Player of the Year in 1997. She was drafted by the Houston Comets in 1999, winning a WNBA Championship her rookie season and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that won gold in 2000.<\/p>\n

Teaira McCowan, 6-foot-7\"Teaira<\/p>\n

Toyota Antelopes v Dallas Wings | Sam Hodde\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

McCowan was drafted out of Mississippi State by the Indiana Fever in 2019. She spent three years with Indiana before being traded to the Dallas Wings, where she has spent the last four seasons. She’s been consistent on the court throughout most of her years.<\/p>\n

Kamilla Cardoso, 6-foot-7\"Kamilla<\/p>\n

New York Liberty v Chicago Sky | Michael Hirschuber\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Cardoso was a staple on Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks squads that won the National Championships in both 2022 and 2024. In that 2024 run, she was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player. She was drafted to the Chicago Sky third-overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft. In Chicago, she has shown off her height with her in-the-paint abilities. <\/p>\n

Lauren Betts, 6-foot-7\"Lauren<\/p>\n

UCLA v Penn State | G Fiume\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Let’s close this out with a player still in the NCAA. UCLA’s star senior, Lauren Betts, makes her height known as one of the tallest players in collegiate women’s basketball right now. She was named the 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, she also holds the program single-season block record at UCLA with 67. She is expected to go top three in the upcoming 2026 WNBA Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More women’s basketball news and analysis:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NCAA just got seven feet taller. Texas Tech women’s basketball announced in early January that they had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-142896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-lubbock","9":"tag-lubbock-headlines","10":"tag-lubbock-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}