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2010 WNBA Draft Slated for April 8
By WNBA Release
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The worlds’ top women’s basketball prospects will be selected in the 2010 WNBA Draft presented by adidas, which will be held on Thursday, April 8 at the NBA Entertainment studios in Secaucus, N.J. ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will provide live coverage and analysis of the first round of the draft beginning at 3 p.m. ET. ESPNU and NBA TV will broadcast the second and third rounds.
After completing a trade with the Minnesota Lynx earlier this year, the Connecticut Sun hold the top pick in the draft for the first time in franchise history. The Sun obtained the first overall pick and Renee Montgomery from the Lynx in exchange for Lindsay Whalen and the second overall pick. It marked the first time in league history that a team had swapped the No. 1 pick in advance of the WNBA Draft. Minnesota previously obtained the pick from the New York Liberty, which ultimately led to the Lynx winning the ninth annual WNBA Draft Lottery.
The Lynx now have the second and third picks in the 2010 WNBA Draft followed by the Chicago Sky and the San Antonio Silver Stars to round out the top five selections.
Among eligible prospects for this year’s draft are the following players, who have combined for five Final Four appearances and eight Associated Press All-America selections over their collegiate careers: Stanford University’s Jayne Appel, the University of Connecticut’s Tina Charles, the University of Nebraska’s Kelsey Griffin, Epiphanny Prince, who played for three years at Rutgers University and is currently playing overseas for Botas in Turkey, Oklahoma State University’s Andrea Riley and the University of Virginia’s Monica Wright.
WNBA.com, in addition to providing comprehensive draft-day coverage, will serve as the Web destination for fans who want to track top prospects from mid-March through April 8.
The WNBA will tip off its 14th season on Saturday, May 15 as the defending champion Phoenix Mercury host the Los Angeles Sparks at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
You Don’t Always Get What You Want ... You Get What You Need
By Clay Kallam
Correspondent
The annual gnashing of teeth about fans’ All-Star game voting transcends individual sports – there’s always a better player who doesn’t make it and some veteran, or inexplicably popular youngster, who gets on instead.
And that issue is at the heart of a very real dilemma facing the WNBA: Many players who might excite the fans wind up being peripheral figures in the league because coaches rightfully place winning ahead of making the paying customers happy. Why “rightfully”? If coaches don’t win, they get fired, and, equally important, though the league as a whole might benefit from the presence of a particularly compelling package of personality and skill, an individual team’s attendance and sponsorship is much more directly tied to wins and losses than to popular, though relatively less effective, players.
Lawson to Connecticut, Penicheiro to Los Angeles in WNBA Off-Season Free Agent Moves
By Lee Michaelson
Publisher
Several WNBA teams saw roster changes this week as clubs raced to sign the league’s top free agents. Kara Lawson, who many considered to be one of, if not the most, valuable players dispersed from the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs, signed a three-year deal Tuesday with the Connecticut Sun, where she will join former UConn stars Renee Montgomery, also recently agreed to come home to Connecticut, along with the number one pick in this year’s WNBA draft in a deal that sent Lindsay Whalen and the number two draft pick to the Minnesota Lynx. The Sun also re-signed Lithuanian star Anete Jekabsone-Zogota.
On Wednesday, the Sacramento Press reported that Lawson’s former Monarchs’ teammate Ticha Penicheiro, a 12-year veteran of the league, has agreed to and will soon sign a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks, once Sacramento’s chief rival. Though that transaction has not yet been confirmed on the WNBA’s web site, the Press account quoted the native of Portugal as stating she was “looking forward” to playing with the Sparks’ front line of Candace Parker, Delisha Milton-Jones and Tina Thompson and that the right thumb that had been surgically repaired last November was nearing full recovery. Though Penicheiro may have lost a step or two over the years, she brings a wealth of experience and good judgment to the point guard position that has been the Achilles heel for the Sparks for the last two seasons.
Yesterday, the WNBA reported that the Atlanta Dream had signed Belarussian star Yelena Leuchanka. The 6-5 center, who played collegiately for West Virginia after a stint in juior college to perfect her English, saw limited minutes off the bench for the Charlotte Sting in 2006 and the Washington Mystics in 2007, before being picked up by the Dream in the expansion draft in the team’s inaugural year (2008). However, Leuchanka, a four-time member of the Belarus National Team, sat out 2008 to prepare for the Beijing Olympics, and since then, the Dream has reportedly had a difficult time getting pen to paper. This year, they have finally sealed the deal, although Leuchanka’s additional to a front line that includes Sancho Lyttle and Erika De Souza (both WNBA All Stars last season) may be more depth than the current 13-member roster can afford.
Two other teams added stability to their line-ups this week, as the Chicago Sky re-signed free agent Dominique Canty and the San Antonio Silver Stars re-signed free agent and reserve center Ruth Riley.
- Who Gets the Better of the Sun-Lynx Homecoming Deal?
- Seimone Augustus Becomes First Women In LSU History to See Jersey Retired
- Dream’s Lehning to Coach at K-State
- Versyp, Dunn To Be Honored by Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
- Sparks Name Gillom Head Coach; Lynx Tap Detroit’s Cheryl Reeve
- Liberty Take Powell With Top Pick in Monarchs’ Dispersal Draft
- Monarchs’ Dispersal Draft: Slim Pickin’s
- What’s Not Happening in Women’s Pro Ball
- Jackson Opts Out of Spartak, Will Return to Canberra Instead
- Lynx Win Top Pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft
- Taurasi Pleads Guilty to DUI, Spends One Day in Jail
- 2009—A Good Year for the WNBA
- Kathy Betty Saves the Dream for Atlanta
- WNBA 2009 Post-Season Report: Shock Likely Done in Detroit; Atlanta Trying to Hang On
- Whatever Happened to the Mid-Majors?
- WNBA Finals: Phoenix Captures Second WNBA Title with 94-86 Game Five Win; Taurasi Named Finals MVP
- WNBA Finals: Both Teams Know What They Need To Do to Win
- USA Basketball Headed to the Russian Front
- WNBA Finals: Indiana Takes Game Three, 86-85, Thanks to Head Butt and Late Goal Line Stand
- WNBA Finals: Catchings Posts Near Triple Double as Indiana Levels Series with 93-84 Game 2 Victory
- Atlanta Dream’s Marynell Meadors Named 2009 WNBA Coach of the Year
- Atlanta Dream’s Angel McCoughtry Named 2009 WNBA Rookie of the Year
- Taurasi Named WNBA’s Most Valuable Player
- WNBA Finals: Phoenix Prevails in OT, 120-116, to Take Highest Scoring Game in WNBA History
- WNBA 2009 Finals Preview: Indiana versus Phoenix – Breaking New Ground
- WNBA Eastern Conference Final: Fever Take First Eastern Conference Title with 72-67 Win Over Detroit
- Western Conference Final: Mercury Extinguish Sparks, 85-74, to Take WNBA Western Conference Crown
- Tamika Catchings Named 2009 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year
- Western Conference Final: Sparks Ride Early Surge to 87-72 Game Two Victory
- WNBA Eastern Conference Final: Fever Steal Game Two, 79-75
