Like the ceaseless construction that litters the Toronto skyline, building a basketball roster is a never-ending project.
Though the Toronto Tempo broke ground a couple weeks ago at the expansion draft and have since fleshed out their roster with an active free-agency period, a few key pieces of business were left to check off before opening for business.
The team needed some rookies. Players who would serve as current and future faces of the franchise.
They got just that on Monday night.
With the sixth overall pick at the WNBA Draft, the Tempo took UCLA guard Kiki Rice, a national champion, savvy ball-handler, offensive engine and Canada’s newest basketball ambassador.
“I think it’s evident in how she handled herself throughout her college career that she’s just, she’s a star,” general manager Monica Wright Rogers said after making Rice the team’s first pick.
To best understand who Rice is as a person and player — as well as fellow Tempo picks Teonni Key, Saffron Shiels and Charlise Dunn — here’s a deeper look at Toronto’s rookie class.
First round, sixth overall: Kiki Rice, G, UCLA
Age: 22
Height: Five-foot-11
Hometown: Bethesda, Md.
Stats (from final year of college): 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.5 steals, .490/.385/.902 shooting splits
While the Tempo have focused heavily on guards throughout the abbreviated off-season, taking Julie Allemand and Marina Mabrey in the expansion draft and picking up Brittney Sykes in free agency, you can never have too many ball-handlers.
Especially not when they’re as talented and as “pro-ready” as Rice.
“This league is a guard-dominant league, that’s evident. And I do think that we needed a core group of guards and an up-and-coming, talented guard to really fortify us as we come into our initial season,” Wright Rogers explained of the choice to target Rice. “The ball, it plays through guards. And I think now with the combination of guards we have… (head coach Sandy Brondello) has her choice of who’s going to be the dominant ball handler on any given night.”
The lead guard at UCLA, Rice dictated the tempo for four years with the Bruins, transforming them from the 70th-best offence in college hoops in her freshman season into the No. 2 unit in the country by her senior year.
Beyond just making her team better, Rice herself has been on a steady upward trajectory since joining the Bruins, increasing her efficiency from the field and from deep every season while taking on a heavier ball-handling load and mitigating turnovers.
When Rice joined UCLA, ranked the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2022 by ESPN, her ability to score from the mid-range and from paint touches was a certainty, but she wasn’t the three-level scorer she is today. From her freshman to her senior year, she saw her three-point percentage jump from 21.7 to 38.5 per cent, and nearly finished that final campaign at UCLA with 50/40/90 splits.
“She added her shooting late in her college career, which, you know, just really made her the perfect fit for us,” Wright Rogers said. “I think just watching her diversity on the wing, watching her as a teammate, she’s a great fit for the locker room. And I think just, you know, as we think about guards in the WNBA, they’re no longer one- or two-faceted. They have to be multi-faceted, and that is Kiki Rice, a very versatile multi-faceted guard that plays both ends of the floor.”
She’s also a strong transition player, capable of finding shooters in the open floor or taking it to the basket herself with plus-speed and solid deceleration when she has to get around a defender. Because of her bigger frame for a guard and willingness to put her shoulder into defenders to draw contact, she should be able to adapt to faster and stronger opponents in the pros.
Beyond her abilities on the court, the Tempo valued Rice’s maturity off of it. Being the first rookie for an expansion team in a new country is a heavy burden, but Wright Rogers explained that — because of Rice’s experience playing for UCLA, in a college landscape that shines a brighter light on athletes than ever — there’s no concern when it comes to her willingness to shoulder it. It also helps that she’s got a bevy of backcourt players to learn from.
“I think what we felt was that she would have a good group of veteran guards to really rally around her. Obviously a veteran coach and staff, former players with me and Sandy, and we felt that that would be a great cushion for her, and every rookie needs a little cushion,” the GM explained. “But I mean, she carried herself very well. I don’t think being out in the public eye is anything new to her based on what we know about her background. And so we’re very confident that she can handle this.”
Second round, 22nd overall: Teonni Key, F/C, Kentucky
Age: 22
Height: Six-foot-five
Hometown: Cary, N.C.
Stats (from final year of college): 11.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.3 blocks, .512/.133/.698 shooting splits
In need of some size, the Tempo pivoted toward the best available big with Teonni Key, an energetic glass-crasher and rim protector, and someone the Tempo considered “a little under the radar” at that point in the draft.
Ranked as the No. 9 recruit by ESPN in 2021, Key transferred from the University of North Carolina to Kentucky ahead of the 2024-25 season and never looked back.
Not only did her scoring load balloon from 2.7 points in the sophomore season to 11.4 in her junior year, her efficiency improved from 42 per cent from the field at UNC to 50.8 per cent at Kentucky despite playing in the tougher SEC.
Her stock then skyrocketed in her senior year, as she strung together some impressive performances against top teams in the country, including a 27-point outing against Vanderbilt, a 17-point, 16-rebound double-double against LSU, and a 17-point, four-block win over Louisville.
While scoring isn’t her calling card, her work in the pick-and-roll with Georgia Amoore in the 2024-25 season and Tonie Morgan this year should make her appealing in tandem with Rice and the bevy of guards at the Tempo’s disposal.
“Her length, her ability to play post defence, her versatility, her ability to handle the ball,” Wright Rogers said of what appealed to her about Key. “I think those are some of the things that we’ll continuously see — versatility at her position and defensive-mindedness.”
With only five players six-foot-three and above on the roster, the Tempo had a big hole to fill down the middle. They did just that, though she’ll sit behind Nyara Sabally for minutes at the five.
Second round, 26th overall: Saffron Shiels, F/G, Townsville Fire (Australia)
Age: 20
Height: Six-foot-two
Hometown: Newcastle, Australia
Stats (from final year of college): N/A
The first of two stash picks for the Tempo — Wright Rogers clarified that both she and Dunn will play overseas for the time being — Shiels is a high-upside choice who can provide positional versatility for Toronto in the future.
Though she sat out the 2025-26 season after undergoing ankle surgery, the young Aussie guard is regarded as one of the top up-and-comers from a passionate basketball nation, and one that has done well producing high-end talent at the WNBA level.
At six-foot-two, Shiels plays as a big-bodied guard, capable of running an offence and creating size mismatches with regularity. She excelled in that role at the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup back in 2024, when she averaged 18 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists to lead the Opals to gold.
Beyond her gold-medal acumen, she’s been around winning culture with the WNBL, Australia’s professional women’s league, where she plays with the Fire — the most successful team in the league over the last decade.
“It’s always a plus when someone comes from a championship team because when you’re a part of that, you recognize what it takes to get there. And those things sometimes aren’t straightforward.” Wright Rogers said of Shiels’ championship experience. “And so having those tools, having those experiences, brings you into this situation already kind of prepared for what we are, for what our goals are and prepared to start us a culture and begin a franchise where we can instill championship habits early on.”
Shiels also has some familiarity with the Tempo coaching staff, having played under assistant Carly Clarke at the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit. She had eight points, eight rebounds, and three assists in 28 minutes as part of Team World.
Third round, 36th overall: Charlise Dunn, F/G, Davidson
Age: 22
Height: Six-foot-two
Hometown: Victoria, Australia
Stats (from final year of college): 15.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.8 steals, .408/.309/.835 shooting splits
With their final pick, the Tempo went for even more versatility on the wing, adding the six-foot-two Dunn, who can suit up one through three.
While she’s expected to return to Australia and play in the WNBL for at least next year, Dunn could provide the Tempo with some much-needed three-and-D help down the line.
Though she’s a willing three-point shooter, having taken 204 shots from deep in her senior year, she’ll have to work on her efficiency after knocking down only 30.9 per cent of those looks.
Part of that, however, was due to the system and supporting cast at Davidson where a good chunk of the scoring load fell on her shoulders. She has a solid release, and her 83.5-per-cent mark from the charity stripe indicates a higher ceiling from beyond the arc, but consistency will be key over the next few years.
Past just scoring, Dunn is an active rebounder, finishing her senior year with 11 double-doubles. She also played well in non-conference games against Power-5 competition, highlighted by a 33-point, 11-rebound showing against Baylor at the WBCA Showcase in November.