Tag: WNBA Draft

Nyara Sabally reunites with Sabrina Ionescu in the Big Apple

The New York Liberty selected their second Duck in three years as they pick Nyara Sabally at No. 5 in the WNBA draft.

The WNBA better be ready for another Sabally.

Oregon’s power forward Nyara Sabally was picked in the first round of the WNBA draft at No. 5 by the New York Liberty and will join Duck legend Sabrina Ionescu in hopes of bringing a championship to the Big Apple. Sabally also joins her older sister Satou in the league and is the fourth Duck women’s basketball player in the last three seasons to be drafted high in the first round.

Nyara Sabally averaged 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds a game in her two seasons playing for Oregon. She ended her college career on a high note as she was an all-conference player in both seasons and made the Pac-12 all-tournament team in 2022.

In 2021, the Liberty finished 12-20, but still made the postseason where they are bounced out of the first round by the eventual runner-up Phoenix Mercury. New York will also have a Sandy Brondello as its new head coach.

Sabally, Ionescu and the rest of the Liberty will begin their WNBA season May 7 when they host Connecticut.

Notre Dame’s Maya Dodson denied sixth year of eligibility by NCAA

Best wishes in her professional career.

Notre Dame forward Maya Dodson was in a no-lose situation. If the NCAA denied her request for a sixth year of eligibility, she could instead prepare for the upcoming WNBA draft. Well, it’s time for her to start thinking about her professional career because the NCAA denied her appeal. With her collegiate career officially over, she took to social media to profess her gratitude to the Irish:

Dodson came to the Irish for the 2021-22 season after transferring from Stanford. Injuries limited her to nine games in 2019-20, and she opted out of the COVID-19-hampered 2020-21 season. By doing so, she was not eligible for the extra year of eligibility that the NCAA gave those who played that season. That made the appeal process necessary.

In her lone season with the Irish, Dodson was named to the All-ACC First Team and All-Defensive Team. She led the team in rebounds (7.3) and blocks (2.8) a game while also placing second in scoring (12.6).

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Nyara Sabally says goodbye to Oregon and declares for WNBA draft

Nyara Sabally declares for the WNBA draft after a stellar career in Eugene playing for the Ducks.

Nyara Sabally came to Oregon in the hopes of playing with her sister Satou and win a national championship.

Although neither came to fruition due to several knee injuries, Nyara was able to carve out her own little piece of Duck history for her very own.

The younger Sabally overcame those injuries and played the last two seasons with the Ducks where she averaged 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. She also an all-conference player in both seasons and made the Pac-12 all-tournament team in 2022.

In her first season, Sabally averaged 13 points and 7.3 rebounds a game where the Ducks advanced all the way to the Sweet 16.

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Michigan State women’s basketball star Nia Clouden declares for WNBA draft after earning First Team All-Big Ten honors

Michigan State women’s basketball star Nia Clouden declares for WNBA draft after earning First Team All-Big Ten honors

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Michigan State women’s basketball’s most prolific scorer since Aerial Powers will look to follow Powers to the WNBA. On Tuesday, Nia Clouden announced that she will be declaring for the 2022 WNBA draft.

Clouden averaged 20 points, 4.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game on her way to earning First Team All-Big Ten honors.

Clouden will leave MSU as the second-leading scorer in the history of the program and the record holder for most points in a single game with 50 against Florida Gulf Coast. She could have returned thanks to an extra year of COVID eligibility, but will instead test the pro waters.

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Watch Kysre Gondrezick absolutely lose it after being picked 4th in the WNBA draft

She was so happy.

Being drafted into a professional sports league has to be up there with some of the most important moments of your life.

For so many of these athletes, they’ve worked their entire lives just to get to this moment. Actually accomplishing it has to be one of the best feelings ever.

It’s clear that for West Virginia’s Kysre Gondrezick, that was absolutely the case.

She was picked 4th in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever during Thursday night’s draft and she was absolutely overcome by joy and excitement. Before they could finish saying her name on the broadcast she was screaming.

It was such an incredible moment to watch.

What a moment. And it’s a well-deserved one, too. Congrats to Gondrezick.

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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.

2020 WNBA Draft results: See all 36 picks

The New York Liberty selected Sabrina Ionescu with the first overall pick on Friday.

The 2020 WNBA Draft was held virtually on Friday night, and as expected, two former Oregon Ducks were the first players off the board. The New York Liberty selected Sabrina Ionescu with the No. 1 overall pick, and her Oregon teammate Satou Sabally went second overall to Dallas.

The WNBA also honored three young players as honorary draft picks. Gianna Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli, and Payton Chester, all of whom lost their lives in a tragic helicopter accident in February, were selected.

Here are the full results from Friday’s draft.

2020 WNBA Draft results:

Round 1:

1. New York Liberty: Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon
2. Dallas Wings: Satou Sabally, Oregon
3. Indiana Fever: Laurex Cox, Baylor
4. Atlanta Dream: Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M
5. Dallas Wings: Bella Alarie, Princeton
6. Minnesota Lynx: Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, South Carolina
7. Dallas Wings: Tyasha Harris, South Carolina
8. Chicago Sky: Ruthy Hebard, Oregon
9. New York Liberty: Megan Walker, UConn
10. Phoenix Mercury: Jocelyn Willoughby, Virginia
11. Seattle Storm: Kitija Laska, South Florida
12. New York Liberty: Jazmine Jones, Louisville

Round 2:

13. New York Liberty: Kylee Shook, Louisville
14. Indiana Fever: Kathleen Doyle, Iowa
15. New York Liberty: Leaonna Odom, Duke
16. Minnesota Lynx: Crystal Dangerfield, UConn
17. Atlanta Dream: Brittany Brewer, Texas Tech
18. Phoenix Mercury: Te’a Cooper, Baylor
19. Seattle Storm: Joyner Holmes, Texas
20. Los Angeles Sparks: Beatrice Mompremier, Miami
21. Dallas Wings: Luisa Geiselsoder, Germany
22. Los Angeles Sparks: Leonie Fiebich, Germany
23. Connecticut Sun: Kaila Charles, Maryland
24. Washington Mystics: Jaylyn Agnew, Creighton

Round 3:

25. Atlanta Dream: Mikayla Pivec, Oregon State
26. New York Liberty: Erica Ogwumike, Rice
27. Atlanta Dream: Kobi Thornton, Clemson
28. Indiana Fever: Kamiah Smalls, James Madison
29. Phoenix Mercury: Stella Johnson, Rider
30. Chicago Sky: Japreece Dean, UCLA
31. Seattle Storm: Haley Gorecki, Duke
32. Chicago Sky: Kiah Gillespie, Florida State
33. Las Vegas Aces: Lauren Manis, Holy Cross
34. Los Angeles Sparks: Tynice Martin, West Virginia
35. Connecticut Sun: Juicy Landrum, Baylor
36. Washington Mystics: Sug Sutton, Texas

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Two Longhorns make jump to the WNBA

Joyner Holmes and teammate Sug Sutton were selected in the 2020 WNBA Draft. Where did they land?

On Friday night the WNBA took center stage with the WNBA Draft. Two former Longhorns were looking to make the jump to the next level and continue their playing careers. In the first round of the draft, senior forward Joyner Holmes got the call she had been waiting her whole life for.

Holmes will now head to the pacific northwest and join the Seattle Storm. The Storm’s roster is quite loaded with talent including 16-year veteran Sue Bird. Holmes will join a forward group that also includes Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck who played their college ball at UConn. She will have quite the challenge to make the team once their season gets rolling.

Sug Sutton also was selected in the third round to the defending WNBA Champion Washington Mystics. Sutton joins former Longhorns standout Ariel Atkins, who will be going into her third year.

The WNBA season was set to start on May 14th but it remains to be seen when either of these two Longhorns will finally step on the court as professional athletes at the next level.

LeBron James, UNINTERRUPTED drop gear for Oregon’s Sabally before WNBA Draft

The Los Angeles Lakers star gave some new gear to one of the likely top picks in Friday’s WNBA Draft.

We finally have something that resembles a real sporting event coming up tomorrow night as the WNBA Draft will take place Friday night on ESPN. And one of the expected top picks in the coming draft, Oregon forward Satou Sabally, got a pretty dope care package from LeBron James, Maverick Carter and the folks at UNINTERRUPTED.

Sabally’s Oregon teammate Sabrina Ionescu is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in tomorrow’s draft to the New York Liberty, but the latest mock draft from ESPN, and mock drafts for the past few months, have been mostly considering Sabally in the No. 2 spot to the Dallas Wings. LeBron made sure she has some UNINTERRUPTED merch wherever she goes tomorrow.

Sabally, a member of the German National Team who spent her early childhood in Gambia before settling in Berlin, averaged nearly 17 points and seven rebounds per game last season. She was also a 37.8% 3-point shooter over her three-year college career. While Sabally and her Oregon teammates did not get the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament, tomorrow could be a big night for them in the WNBA draft.

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