Tag: Charli Collier

2023 WNBA draft is April 10 and to be televised exclusively on ESPN

This year’s draft class is exceptionally talented with South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston leading the way.

The 2023 WNBA draft will be held on Monday, April 10. It will be exclusively televised on ESPN from 7-9 p.m. EST and available on the ESPN app.

According to the WNBA’s website, fans have multiple ways to get involved with the draft and follow along:

Launching in March, Draft Central on wnba.com will enable fans to access multiple offerings in the days leading up to the draft. Elements will include an interactive draft board; prospect profiles with insights powered by SAP; in-depth features on the top draft prospects; coverage of all draft events; and more.

Fans will also be able to access an array of content across WNBA channels that will include the unique stories and personalities of the prospects via Instagram and TikTok; a Twitter Spaces mock draft debate; cross platform live coverage including the Orange Carpet and more.

The draft consists of three rounds and 36 picks. The WNBA only has 144 roster spots, so the higher a player is picked the larger likelihood they will make a roster. Only a small percentage of players drafted make a WNBA roster.

The league is looking to expand in the next few years, but has no concrete plans for expanded rosters. Leagues such as Athletes Unlimited provide 44 more roster spots for elite basketball players to play domestically, but many opine it is still not enough to harness the sheer talent of women’s basketball players in the United States.

However, the top picks of the draft are almost guaranteed a spot. The last 10 No. 1 overall draft picks were:

2013: Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury

2014: Chiney Ogwumike, Connecticut Sun

2015: Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm

2016: Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm

2017: Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces (formerly San Antonio Stars)

2018: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

2019: Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces

2020: Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty

2021: Charli Collier, Dallas Wings

2022: Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream

The WNBA held its 22nd annual draft lottery on Nov. 11 to determine the order. The Indiana Fever received the first pick. The Minnesota Lynx have the second pick. The Atlanta Dream are third and the Washington Mystics (via Los Angeles Sparks) have the fourth pick.

The full lineup of picks for the first round is below:

Pick Team
1 Indiana Fever
2 Minnesota Lynx
3 Atlanta Dream
4 Washington Mystics (via Los Angeles)
5 Chicago Sky (via Phoenix)
6 New York Liberty
7 Indiana Fever (via Dallas)
8 Atlanta Dream (via Washington)
9 Seattle Storm
10 Connecticut Sun
11 Dallas Wings (via Chicago)
12 Minnesota Lynx (via Las Vegas)

This year’s draft class is exceptionally talented with South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston leading the way. She is projected to go No. 1 in the draft and when you look at her 2022 accomplishments, not to mention her whole career, it is hard to disagree.

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Kevin Durant predicted Charli Collier going first in the WNBA Draft

The Dallas Wings agreed with Kevin Durant’s top pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft.

Amidst all the drama with the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday with the retirement of LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant made a prediction on Twitter, sharing his thoughts on the WNBA draft Thursday. There is a long list of talented players that were selected at the top of the board in this year’s WNBA Draft; however, the Nets star has former Longhorn (of course) Charli Collier going #1.

A few hours later, the Wings selected Collier with the first overall pick. Dallas also possessed the second overall pick, and selected Awak Kuier from Finland.

For Texas, the 6’5” Charli Collier averaged 20.9 PPG and 12.2 RPG. The 21-year-old played for the Longhorns for three years.

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Texas Basketball: Charli Collier is selected No. 1 overall in the 2021 WNBA Draft

Texas Longhorns superstar Charli Collier was selected first overall in the 2021 WNBA draft.

Texas star Charli Collier had an impressive collegiate career in Austin.

Collier led the Longhorns to the Elite Eight in her final year on the Forty Acres. Now, she can add one more notch to her legacy as she was selected first overall in the 2021 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings.

Collier becomes the highest Texas basketball player drafted since Kevin Durant was taken in the 2007 NBA draft with the No. 2 overall pick by the (then) Seattle Supersonics.

In her final season at Texas, Collier was awarded First-Team All-Big 12 honors and was a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award, which is awarded to the nation’s top women’s basketball player. She averaged 19.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 51.1% from the field, 31.3% from three-point range and 80.1% free throws.

Collier is now the first-ever No. 1 overall WNBA selection from Texas and joins past players Edna Campbell, Edwina Brown, Tiffany Jackson, Imani McGee-Stafford and Joyner Holmes as the only players to be selected in the first round.

WNBA Draft: The 10 players you should know ahead of the draft

Here are 10 prospects to keep an eye on in the WNBA draft

The WNBA is starting to rev things up again. Thursday night’s draft is already upon us and, next thing you know, we’ll be in the swing of the regular season come may.

But before we get into that, though, these teams have to pick the players that are going to make their futures brighter.

The Dallas Wings are poised to run things on draft night with three of the top five picks in hand ready to build out what they hope becomes a dynasty.  This year’s draft class might not be as coveted as last year’s with a bonafide star in Sabrina Ionescu waiting at the top, but there’s still plenty of talent to choose from.

Here’s a quick run down of 10 of those names ahead of the draft.

Texas Women’s Basketball: Oklahoma game postponed due to COVID-19

The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball game was set to tipoff on Jan. 12, that game has been postponed due to COVID-19.

Despite the hot start for the Texas women’s basketball team under new head coach Vic Schaeffer, it hasn’t come without their fair share of disruptions early on in the season. Continue reading “Texas Women’s Basketball: Oklahoma game postponed due to COVID-19”

Texas Women’s Basketball: Domination in Vic Schaeffer’s debut

The 2020-21 women’s basketball season got off to a hot start. Charli Collier and Celeste Taylor led the way in a 90-51 victory over SMU.

A new era began on Wednesday in Austin, Texas. For the first time since 2012, Karen Aston was not courtside for the Texas women’s basketball team. Vic Schaeffer made his debut as the head coach for Texas. He came over from Mississippi State and the team couldn’t have looked better in his debut.

The Longhorns led from tip-off, after one quarter it was 20-8. By halftime that lead ballooned to 42-22. Early on for the Longhorns, it was sophomore Celeste Taylor leading the charge. Taylor led the team in scoring for much of the game until Charli Collier starting rolling in the second half of this game.

The Longhorns forced 30 SMU turnovers in this game. Schaeffer stated that they wouldn’t sit back and play zone defense this year. After one game, it appears that he very much wants to put the pressure on offenses. The defense forced 15 steals and eight total blocks in the game. They also outrebounded the Mustangs 39-30, including 21 offensive rebounds.

Quite the start for Schaeffer and company. DeYona Gaston came off the bench and provided a ton of energy for the team. She came close to a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. She also led the team in blocks with five. The Texas women’s basketball team won by 49, 90-51. That was the largest margin of victory for them since 1987.

That year the women’s team finished 32-3. They opened with a 94-34 victory over Northern Arizona.

Final Stats:

Player Shooting Points Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks
Charli Collier 8-13 26 12 0 2 0
Celeste Taylor 9-18 24 3 0 8 2
Audrey Warren 4-11 12 7 3 0 0
DeYona Gaston 5-11 10 9 1 2 5

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Texas Basketball: How to watch the Longhorns season opener

The Texas Longhorns men’s and women’s basketball teams will be in action on Wednesday. Here is how you can you watch both games.

It is officially here, the Texas Longhorns men’s and women’s basketball season opener. Continue reading “Texas Basketball: How to watch the Longhorns season opener”

Texas Basketball: Charli Collier named to Naismith Trophy watch list

Texas women’s basketball forward Charli Collier has been named to the Naismith Trophy watch list. The award is given to the top player.

The Texas women’s basketball team will be under new leadership as they begin the 2020-21 college basketball season. Continue reading “Texas Basketball: Charli Collier named to Naismith Trophy watch list”

Celeste Taylor and Longhorns take care of Oklahoma

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team hosted the Oklahoma Sooners in their final regular season matchup. The final was 86-76.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball returned to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin to host their long-time rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners. Coming off a 10-point victory over the top 25 Texas Christian Horned Frogs. The trio of Celeste Taylor, Charli Collier and Joyner Holmes led the way in that game and did most of the damage against the Sooners.

The Sooners and Longhorns were all tied up after the first quarter before Texas would put some distance in the middle two quarters to head into the final quarter up 62-48 in front of the home crowd. Taylor was feeling it early on and it carried throughout the game when she nailed a three to get the game started for Texas.

Collier carried the offense in the first with 10 of her 14 points to open the game. She finished with yet another double-double in points and rebounds. Taylor and Collier combined for 41 points and 17 rebounds in this matchup. In her final game against Oklahoma, senior forward Joyner Holmes added 16 points, six rebounds and four steals.

After a Tatum Veitenheimer free throw made it 29-25 Oklahoma, it became the Taylor show heading into halftime. The freshmen showed why she was a participant in the McDonald’s All-American game with 10 points in the final six minutes of the quarter. She finished with a game-high 27 points, coming off her 22 point performance against TCU.

The Longhorns were outscored in the fourth quarter by four but the damage was done as they beat Oklahoma, 86-76. After sweeping the season series with OU, the Longhorns look to upset the second-ranked Baylor Bears on Thursday.

Texas goes on the road, beats No. 25 TCU

UT was in desperate need of a win against TCU Wednesday night. UT pulled off the upset against the 25th ranked team in the country, 77-67.

After losing three out of their last four games, Texas was in desperate need of a win on the road against TCU Wednesday night. Backed by double-doubles from three different players, the Longhorns pulled off the upset against the 25th ranked team in the country, 77-67.

Celeste Taylor led the team in scoring, recording 22 points on 8-14 shooting. She caught fire from behind the arc, leading the team with four made three-pointers on seven attempts. To go along with her scoring, Taylor grabbed 10 rebounds. Four of them offensive, the guard out of New York recorded her first double-double of the season.

The leading rebounder of the game was Charli Collier, recording 16 total boards. Dominating down low, she also blocked five shots, a season-high for her. From the field, she only shot 5-14 but was 5-7 from the free-throw line, finishing with 16 points. Ending with as many points as she did rebounds, Collier was the main contributor for the Longhorns.

The third and final player to record a double-double for the Longhorns was Joyner Holmes. She had 15 points while shooting 6-11 from inside the arc. Securing 12 rebounds, she split them evenly on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Holmes and Collier’s combined 12 offensive rebounds were more than the entire Horned Frog team combined.

Next for the Longhorns will be arch-rival Oklahoma on Saturday before traveling to Waco to face No. 2 Baylor. Currently sitting in third in the Big 12, Texas will be looking to end the season with some momentum going into the conference tournament.

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