WNBA Draft on Monday, April 15th
What to expect and five players to watch for during the WNBA Draft.
With the Women’s NCAA March Madness tournament ending last weekend, there has been lots of talk about the WNBA Draft. ESPN said the championship game for the women’s March Madness averaged 18.7 million viewers, and peaked at 24 million viewers. Many of those viewers will most likely tune into the WNBA Draft, which would be great for the WNBA.
The WNBA Draft will be held on Monday, April 15th, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
With the amount of talent that this year’s draft has, I will be talking about five different players that will more than likely be starts in the WNBA.
And no, I will not be talking about Caitlin Clark, since everyone and their mother knows her, and we all know that she will excel. I would just feel repetitive in saying what everyone else is saying.
Angel Reese - LSU
Angel Reese is a 6-foot-3 small forward at LSU. She played with Maryland for two seasons, then she played with LSU for two seasons.
Last season, in 2023, she averaged 23 points per game, and she helped LSU win the NCAA title.
While she may not be as skilled on the perimeter (only having made five 3-pointers in her college career), she makes up for it closer to the basket. She has 1,426 rebounds, which lands her as the 16th highest for total rebounds in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.
Kamilla Cardoso - South Carolina
Kamilla Cardoso is a 6-foot-7 center at South Carolina. She played with Syracuse for one season, and then played with South Carolina for three seasons.
She was one of the biggest reasons as to why South Carolina won the NCAA championship this year. With her impressive performance during the tournament, many people think she’ll be a high draft pick, potentially one of the top three picks.
In the championship game, Cardoso scored 15 points and 17 rebounds. In the semifinals, Cardoso scored 22 points in 23 minutes. To add on top of the 22 points, she was getting over a right leg injury. Due to her great performance, she received the NCAA MVP award.
Many of her teammates say how they can rely on Cardoso to help them get heated up in a game. For someone as tall as Cardoso, you will never miss her. Any team would be lucky to have her, especially with her hot run in the NCAA tournament.
Aaliyah Edwards - UConn
Aaliyah Edwards is a 6-foot-3 forward at UConn. She is a senior, and she played with UConn all four years of her college career.
This season, she averaged 17.6 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game. She has gotten many achievements in her college career, like the Big East most improved player and Big East Tournament’s most outstanding player in 2022-23.
Yahoo! Sports says that many talent evaluators for the WNBA think that Edwards has proven to be a WNBA-ready player who performs consistently, and who is always willing to improve.
Some players can get too into their heads and think they don’t need improvement. But, with a player like Edwards who is already good and says she can improve, that’s a great player to have.
Rickea Jackson - Tennessee
Rickea Jackson is a 6-foot-2 forward at Tennessee. She is a graduate student, and she played with Mississippi State for three seasons, then she played with Tennessee for two seasons.
This season she averaged 20.2 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game. She was a four-time honorable mention All-America standout and a three-time All-SEC performer.
She is a great shooter, having scored 33 points against NC State in Tennessee’s NCAA tournament loss. She can shoot from anywhere, evaluators say.
Dyaisha Fair - Syracuse
Dyaisha Fair is a 5-foot-5 guard at Syracuse. She is a graduate student, and she played three seasons with Buffalo, and two seasons with Syracuse.
Fair is the third leading scorer all-time in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. She scored 3,403 points in her college career (2019-2024), just trailing behind Kelsey Plum and Caitlin Clark.
She played three seasons with Buffalo, but then transferred to Syracuse. This season, she averaged 22.3 points per game, and she was the fastest in program history to score 1,000 points (which Syracuse says was achieved in 50 games).
All in all, I hope that with the WNBA draft happening and the new WNBA season happening a month later, they will finally get the recognition they deserve.
There are so many amazing newcomers, and there are also amazing women who are already in the WNBA. I hope that this upcoming season brings lots of new viewing records for the WNBA.
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