The dust barely has cleared on the 2024 WNBA draft. But that hasn’t stopped people from looking ahead to the 2025 draft. And if you do that as a Notre Dame fan, you’ll realize why next season likely will be the best chance yet for the current group to go far.
Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic has put together a list of who she believes will make up the first round of next year’s WNBA draft. Merchant figures three current Notre Dame players will be taken in that round, beginning with [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] at No. 3:
“It’s hard to design a more prototypically perfect 2-guard than Citron. She is tall and strong, defends well and has a beautiful jumper that goes in 37 percent of the time from long range. Citron is overtaxed as a primary ballhandler, but let her run off screens or handoffs, and she can create her own shot. She is plug-and-play on any team, adding positive value on both ends of the floor.”
[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who announced her return to the Irish for next season earlier this week, also made the list as the sixth overall pick:
“Another player who could have been a first-rounder in this year’s draft, Westbeld does everything well. She can shoot from distance (36 percent on 3s in her college career), and she also can drive to the basket. Westbeld is a load in the paint and dominates on the glass. She can body bigger players on defense; her effort to limit (Elizabeth) Kitley to 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting during the 2024 ACC season was an eye-opener. It’s unclear if she has All-Star upside, but Westbeld is the type of player winning teams find minutes for.”
[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] rounds out this list at No. 8, but she has an asterisk next to her name since she still has a medical redshirt year:
“It’s been a long time since we watched Miles play basketball, so in case you forgot, she’s an elite passer who excels at creating offense in transition. She rebounds well for her position and is a defensive playmaker with 2.1 steals per game. The 3-point jumper was a work in progress during her sophomore season, but she started to fill it up from midrange at least. Without the jumper, she’d be a solid backup point guard in the WNBA, but she has a chance to be even more if that developed during her rehab year.”
So yeah, the 2024-25 Irish are going to be special. Get excited for it now because there’s no time like the present, but more importantly, all of these special players will be off to greener pastures before you know it.
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