2016 WNBA Draft Recap

Rebecca Lobo and Sheryl Swoops Start 2016 Draft (Erica Ayala/MyWSports)

Thursday night, the stage lights shined bright at the Mohegan Sun Arena for the 2016 WNBA Draft. The draft room was full of former superstars and current players hoping to find a new home at the Professional level. The draft was aired on ESPN2 and the arena was packed, especially with UConn fans who were eagerly awaiting where their three seniors would be drafted.

The festivities opened with a panel of former WNBA Legends including Rebecca Lobo, Dawn Staley, and Sheryl Swoops. The trio answered questions about the leagues longevity and their role as players and for Staley as a college coach. “I think all of us were hopeful that it would last at least as long as we retired. But now that we have 20 years to look back on, I think we can look ahead and say, 20 years from now … how popular will it be, what will the salaries be, all those kind of things.” Lobo said.

Staley coached Tiffany Mitchell (and Aleighsa Welch last year) and when asked if she related her experiences to Mitchell to prepare for the draft she said “Well, they both one-upped me. I didn't get invited to the draft. I think the biggest difference is they have someone that understands what this league is all about, in me as their coach. Swoops, who also is a Head Coach at Loyola University of Chicago, said “A lot of the players, at least the ones I coach, don't really know the history of the WNBA. So I feel it's my job, not only as a coach, but a former player and a woman, to educate them as much as I possibly can; not on just the current players and where the WNBA is now, but where we came from.”

The winners on the night were the Connecticut Sun and the Atlanta Dream. Both teams had a large number of picks and used them wisely. The Sun picked up 3 Guards, 1 Forward and 1 Center and a lot of scoring. Atlanta’s second and third rounds were above the rest, getting a Center in Rachel Hollivay, then two great college Guards in Courtney Walker and Niya Johnson. It’s hard to call a team a loser when they’ve been so good, but the Liberty didn’t need size, yet they took Bulgak at the end of the First Round instead of any of the 7 other Guards that were taken in Round 2. The Liberty is getting older and will need to bring some new blood into the backcourt soon.

First Round

#1 Breanna Stewart – Seattle Storm

As expected, when Lisa Borders took the podium to announce the first pick of the 2016 WNBA draft the Seattle Storm selected the 3 time Player of the Year and the leader of the 4 time NCAA Champion UConn Huskies, Breanna Stewart. Stewart was confident she would go to Seattle and showed her appreciation to the Storm in her interview following the selection, “I just want to say tonight has been great. I was not on the floor for long, but the opportunity to play for the Seattle Storm – I’m so excited and looking forward to it.”

#2 Moriah Jefferson – San Antonio Stars

The second player taken in the draft was not as clear cut, but Aneela Kahn saw the stars line up in her WNBA Draft Preview for MyWSports and sure enough the San Antonio Stars took Moriah Jefferson with the second pick in the draft. Jefferson, a native of Texas, was torn whether she wanted to stay in Connecticut or head home to Texas, “I was saying to someone, they asked me if I’d rather go to Connecticut or San Antonio, and I was saying they both feel like home now. I’ve been here [Connecticut] my last four years now, but it feels great to be able to go back home in front of my family and my friends and just to be able to get a good ol’ smell of Texas again.”

#3 Morgan Tuck – Connecticut Sun

To round out history the Connecticut Sun, who held the 3rd and 4th pick in the draft took Morgan Tuck to make it the first time in history the first three picks were all from the same school. Tuck battled knee injuries multiple times in college, but she responded to the idea that scouts and coaches might be worried about the injuries saying, “Well, the injuries, that’s been a part of the game, that’s been a part of my game of having to fight back from injuries. I think it’s just made me a better person, a better player. I just tried to use my time as I sat out as a learning experience, and I think I have. I think it’s helped me quite a bit.”

#4 Rachel Banham – Connecticut Sun

The Sun had the luxury of the 3rd and 4th picks, so with the addition of Tuck, it was almost certain that the number 4 pick would be a guard, but would it be the two time SEC Player of the Year Tiffany Mitchell, would it be the scoring queen Rachel Banham, or would it be the South Florida all-around athlete Courtney Williams? The Sun went with Banham who tied the NCAA scoring record, netting 60 points on February 8th against Northwestern. Banham felt as if that night is what made her the 4th pick, “The 60-point game, I think that was kind of a turning point for me. It was definitely scoring, but I think it just put me over the edge. I was becoming a bigger offensive threat and I was just doing more. I think it kind of put my team on the map and put me on the map a little bit, people were starting to watch. It just set me up for bigger games.” Banham scored 3,093 points in her career at the University of Minnesota and hopes to continue that scoring presence in the WNBA, but knows she still has areas that she will need to improve. “Definitely defense. I’ve been playing zone for the last two years, so just getting kind of back into the man-to- man. The physicality is going to be huge. I’ve got to play tough and I’ve got to play strong.

#5 Aerial Powers – Dallas Wings

Aerial Powers is a Detroit kid who lived out her dream of playing at Michigan State and is now with the 5th pick, Aerial is taking her talents to the Dallas of the WNBA. Powers, like Tuck, still has a year of eligibility, but decided to enter the draft. “I talked to my family about the pros and cons of staying and the pros and cons of leaving. I was in a great position either way. The fact that I was graduating in May... so I’ll have my degree. So I just thought this was the best opportunity for me and took it. Powers was a double-double threat every night for the Spartans and will definitely help bolster an already impressive team of Skylar Diggins, Odyssey Sims and Courtney Paris.

#6 Jonquel Jones – Connecticut Sun (traded from LA Sparks)

The Los Angeles Sparks made Jonquel Jones, the 6’6 Bahamian, the first First Round pick from George Washington. However after the pick, the Sparks traded Jones to the Sun for Chelsea Gray and the Sun’s 1st Round pick in the 2017 draft. Regarding going to Connecticut, Jones said “I talked to Coach Miller extensively. He felt my game could translate really well in his system. He told me that he was really high on me. If the opportunity presented itself, I knew he would try to do something.” She spoke to the media twice, after the trade Jones said “I was definitely surprised. I know this team has a really good fan base. The people here get really excited about basketball. It makes me really excited. I’m really excited to suit up in a WNBA jersey.”

#7 Kahleah Cooper – Washington Mystics

Cooper was a star for Rutgers, leading the team in scoring each of the last three years and finishing third on the career scoring list for the Scarlet Knights. Cooper still knows she can improve her skills. “Going into the WNBA, I definitely want to get stronger. I think I can get a lot stronger to deal with the physicality of the league. I want to extend my range – keep shooting three-point shots. I want to continually get better.

#8 Courtney Williams – Phoenix Mercury

Williams stock rose when she faced off against UConn twice towards the end of the season said former WNBA coach and ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck. Williams is a smaller guard at only 5’8, but her athleticism and her ability to score and pass helped her to a First Round selection. Williams led the American Athletic Conference with 20.3 points per game.

#9 Tiffany Mitchell – Indiana Fever

Mitchell joined her coach at South Carolina, Dawn Staley, as a player selected 9th in the WNBA draft. Mitchell, the 2 time SEC Player of the year goes to an Indiana, where the Final Four was just played without the #2 Gamecocks. “I couldn’t even watch it myself. Just knowing that your season kind of ended that way leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” she said. “I went back to the drawing board and re-set myself on everything. It pushed me to work even harder to get to this point.” However, now she’ll get to play on the same court as a professional.

#10 Imani Boyette – Chicago Sky

The Sky who were looking for a Center to fill out there roster. Never did they think Boyette, the Big 12 co-Defensive Player of the Year, would still be on the board at #10, however, with the run of guards early in the draft, that’s exactly what happened. Boyette was the first Texas Longhorn with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks.

#11 Bria Holmes – Atlanta Dream

Bria Holmes scored 2,001 points while at West Virginia, but she becomes the first Connecticut born player to be drafted in the First Round of the WNBA. Head Coach and former NBA player Michael Cooper said “Defense is what really caught my eye. She can guard 1s, 2s, 3s and some 4s in our league.” Holmes will add some height to the backcourt for the Dream which is one of the smallest in the WNBA.

#12 Adut Bulgak – New York Liberty

The 6’4 Bulgak was a rebounding machine for Florida State this year. The Liberty are gaining a hard working, still learning Center. With the height the Liberty already have, Bulgak may have to move to forward to see playing time, but Bulgak will help make the Liberty a very long team to face.

Second Round

#13 Rachel Hollivay, C, Rutgers – Atlanta

#14 Jazmon Gwathmey, G, James Madison – Minnesota

#15 Whitney Knight, G, Florida Gulf Coast – Los Angeles

#16 Courtney Walker, G, Texas A&M – Atlanta

#17 Jamie Weisner, G, Oregon State – Connecticut

#18 Ruth Hamblin, C, Oregon State – Dallas

#19 Lia Galdeira, G, Washington State – Washington

#20 Jillian Alleyne, F, Oregon – Phoenix

#21 Brene Moseley, G, Maryland – Indiana

#22 Bashaara Graves, F, Tennessee – Minnesota

#23 Brianna Butler, G, Syracuse – Los Angeles