2015 WNBA draft
| 2015 WNBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Date(s) | 16 April |
| Time | 7pm ET |
| Location | Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut |
| Network(s) (US) | ESPN2, ESPNU |
| First selection | Jewell Loyd, G, Notre Dame |
The 2015 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2015 WNBA season. The Seattle Storm picked first.
This year's draft was unusual in that two players with remaining college eligibility declared for the draft—Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame, who had one year of eligibility remaining, and Amanda Zahui B. of Minnesota, with two years remaining. Both players were draft-eligible by virtue of their births in 1993; under current draft rules, players who turn 22 in the calendar year of the draft can declare themselves eligible even if they have not completed college eligibility.[1] Before this season, only two players with remaining college eligibility had ever entered the WNBA draft, and only one of these did so before her fourth college season (Kelsey Bone in 2012).[2]
Draft lottery
The lottery selection to determine the order of the top four picks in the 2015 draft occurred on August 21, 2014. The team that would get the first pick would be the winner of the lottery.[3]
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2015 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:
| Team | 2014 record |
Lottery win chances |
Pick | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||||
| Seattle Storm | 12-22 | 359 | |||||
| Tulsa Shock | 12-22 | 359 | |||||
| Connecticut Sun | 13-21 | 178 | |||||
| Connecticut Sun (from New York Liberty) | 15-19 | 104 | |||||
| Shaded block denotes actual lottery result. | |||||||
Invited players
The WNBA announced on April 13, 2015 that 12 players had been invited to attend the draft. Unless indicated otherwise, all players listed are Americans who played at U.S. colleges.[4]
- Brittany Boyd, California
- Reshanda Gray, California
- Dearica Hamby, Wake Forest
- Isabelle Harrison, Tennessee
- Brittany Hrynko, DePaul
- Samantha Logic, Iowa
- Jewell Loyd, Notre Dame
- Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut
- Kiah Stokes, Connecticut
- Aleighsa Welch, South Carolina
- Elizabeth Williams, Duke
-
Amanda Zahui B., Minnesota
Key
| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| italics | Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year |
Draft
Round 1
Round 2
| Pick | Player | Nationality | WNBA Team | School/Club Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Brianna Kiesel |  United States |
Tulsa Shock | Pittsburgh |
| 14 | Cierra Burdick | United States |
Los Angeles Sparks (through Sea.) | Tennessee |
| 15 | Natasha Cloud | United States |
Washington Mystics (through Conn./Sea.) | Saint Joseph's |
| 16 | Reshanda Gray | United States |
Minnesota Lynx (from N.Y.) | California |
| 17 | Betnijah Laney | United States |
Chicago Sky | Rutgers |
| 18 | Alex Harden | United States |
Phoenix Mercury (through Ind.) | Wichita State |
| 19 | Brittany Hrynko | United States |
Connecticut Sun (through L.A.; traded to Atl.) | DePaul |
| 20 | Vicky McIntyre | United States |
Seattle Storm (through Was.) | Oral Roberts |
| 21 | Chelsea Gardner | United States |
Indiana Fever (from S.A.) | Kansas |
| 22 | Aleighsa Welch | United States |
Chicago Sky (through Atl.) | South Carolina |
| 23 | Amber Orrange | United States |
New York Liberty (from Min.) | Stanford |
| 24 | Žofia Hruščáková |  Slovakia |
Phoenix Mercury | Good Angels Košice (NB I/A) |
Round 3
| Pick | Player | Nationality | WNBA Team | School/Club Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Mimi Mungedi |  Gabon |
Tulsa Shock | Nevada |
| 26 | Nneka Enemkpali | United States |
Seattle Storm | Texas |
| 27 | Laurin Mincy | United States |
New York Liberty (through Conn.) | Maryland |
| 28 | Michala Johnson | United States |
New York Liberty (from Minn.) | Wisconsin |
| 29 | Ariel Massengale | United States |
Atlanta Dream | Tennessee |
| 30 | Dragana Stanković |  Serbia |
San Antonio Stars (from Ind.) | UNIQA Euroleasing Sopron |
| 31 | Andrea Hoover | United States |
Los Angeles Sparks | Dayton |
| 32 | Marica Gajić |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Washington Mystics | ŽKK Celje (1. SKLŽ) |
| 33 | Nikki Moody | United States |
San Antonio Stars | Iowa State |
| 34 | Lauren Okafor | United States |
Atlanta Dream | James Madison |
| 35 | Shae Kelley | United States |
Minnesota Lynx (from N.Y.) | Minnesota |
| 36 | Promise Amukamara |  Nigeria |
Phoenix Mercury | Arizona State |
References
- ↑ Feinberg, Doug (April 15, 2015). "Jewell Loyd, Amanda Zahui B. shake up WNBA draft". The Denver Post. Associated Press. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
- ↑ Morris, Benjamin (April 27, 2015). "Women's College Basketball Is Better Than Men's". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
- ↑ Seattle Storm win WNBA draft lottery, secure No. 1 pick - ESPN
- ↑ "Loyd, Mosqueda-Lewis Headline List of Top College Prospects to Attend WNBA Draft 2015 Presented by State Farm" (Press release). WNBA. April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Seattle Storm 2015 Team Transactions". espn.go.com. ESPN. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
- ↑ Fever Acquire Shenise Johnson From Stars
- ↑ WNBA.com: Seattle Storm Win Top Pick in 2015 WNBA Draft Presented by State Farm
- ↑ The Storm traded Camille Little and Shekinna Stricklen to Connecticut for the 3rd and 15th picks in this draft.[5]
- ↑ The Stars traded Shenise Johnson and their second-round pick to Indiana for the first- and third-round picks in this draft.[6]