The women’s basketball talent is deep, but with only 144 roster spots for players in the WNBA, obtaining one of those spots takes more than just being a deeply-talented player.
Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist will forgo her COVID year of eligibility and enter the 2023 WNBA draft. Siegrist led the Wildcats to their first Sweet Sixteen since 2003 and to a 30-7 overall record this season. She led the NCAA in scoring at 29.2 points per game to go with a 9.2 rebounds per game average. She shines both on and off the court as evidenced by her head coach’s remarks after Siegrist announced she would enter the draft.
“The statistical numbers that she recorded are going to be there forever which is so special when you see what Maddy accomplished throughout her amazing career,” said Villanova head coach Denise Dillon. “With that said, when you leave your mark on people as Maddy has there is nothing greater. I think that is by far the greatest accomplishment as a student-athlete where you can be recognized as being an authentic person as opposed to just a great athlete. Maddy will continue to impact the world in whatever she does.”
Siegrist had 20 or more points in all 37 games this year, including 17 games of 30 points or more. This streak of 37 consecutive 20-point game stretch is the longest streak by any women’s or men’s D-1 player this century.
And if that wasn’t impressive enough, she is now the all-time leading scorer in the history of Villanova basketball this season for both men and women and finished her collegiate career with 2,896 points. Additionally, she is the all-time leading scorer in BIG EAST Conference history for men and women.
She has been named the BIG EAST Player of the Year twice and earned first team All-American honors from the Associated Press and USBWA and is one of four finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy.
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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. The draft consists of three rounds and 36 picks with a total 144 roster spots in the WNBA.
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
This year’s draft class is deep with South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, Maryland’s Diamond Miller, and Stanford’s Haley Jones leading the way. However, Siegrist is projected to go high in the draft and the higher a player is drafted the more likely they will see a WNBA roster spot. The women’s basketball talent is deep, but with only 144 roster spots for players in the WNBA, obtaining one of those spots takes more than just being a deeply-talented player.
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