WNBA elite draft

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In 1997, the Women's National Basketball Association was created. In order to give new teams reasonable talent, the league decided to have two drafts. There was the normal collegiate draft that most professional sports leagues hold. There was also the WNBA elite draft. The elite draft allowed teams to pick players that have already graduated from college and have gone on to play professionally on other American teams or overseas.

Contents

The following is the list of how players were picked in the 1997 WNBA elite draft. [1] After this draft, the normal collegiate draft took place. [2]

Round 1

PickPlayerNationalityWNBA TeamSchool/Club Team
1 Dena Head (G)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Utah Starzz Tennessee
2 Isabelle Fijalkowski (C/F)Flag of France.svg  France Cleveland Rockers Colorado
3 Rhonda Mapp (C/F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Charlotte Sting North Carolina State
4 Kym Hampton (C/F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States New York Liberty Arizona State
5 Wanda Guyton (F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Houston Comets South Florida
6 Judy Mosley-McAfee (F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Sacramento Monarchs Hawaii
7 Bridget Pettis (F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Phoenix Mercury Florida
8 Daedra Charles (C)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Los Angeles Sparks Tennessee

Round 2

PickPlayerNationalityWNBA TeamSchool/Club Team
9 Wendy Palmer (F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Utah Starzz Virginia
10 Lynette Woodard (G)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Cleveland Rockers Kansas
11 Michi Atkins (F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Charlotte Sting Texas Tech
12 Vickie Johnson (F)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States New York Liberty Louisiana Tech
13 Janeth Arcain (F)Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Houston Comets Brazil
14 Mikiko Hagiwara (G)Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan Sacramento Monarchs Japan
15 Nancy Lieberman-Cline (G)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Phoenix Mercury Old Dominion
16 Zheng Haixia (C)Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Los Angeles Sparks China

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References

  1. "WNBA, list". Idaho Spokesman-Review. March 1, 1997. pp. C4. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  2. "WNBA holds elite draft". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. February 28, 1997. pp. 3C.