UConn 1-2-3 in WNBA Draft
April 15, 2016
Breanna Stewart (left), Moriah Jefferson (center), and Morgan Tuck pose with the WNBA jerseys they will be wearing when the season starts next month. The University of Connecticut teammates were the top three picks in the 2016 WNBA draft.
Credit: © 2016 NBAE (Photo by Steven Freeman, NBAE/Getty Images)
Last night, April 14, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft was held—fittingly—in Connecticut. The Seattle Storm surprised no one with the top overall pick: University of Connecticut (UConn) superstar Breanna Stewart. In her four years at UConn, Stewart redefined greatness in women’s college basketball. First, she led her team to four consecutive NCAA national titles. Second, she earned the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award all four of those years. Third, as the top women’s player overall, Stewart was named Naismith College Player of the Year the past three years. So no, it was no surprise that “Bre” went number one. The Seattle Storm are no doubt counting their lucky stars to have her.
But then came the next two picks, chosen by the San Antonio Stars and the Connecticut (that state again!) Sun: UConn guard Moriah Jefferson and UConn forward Morgan Tuck. Yes, UConn again and again. For the first time, a single school produced the top three basketball picks in the same draft. It is fitting that a team with four-straight NCAA championships and a 75-game winning streak should have its top players go 1-2-3 in the draft. No doubt the college basketball world beyond UConn is happy to see them go. But UConn, as always, surely has terrific players waiting to take their places. Now that Stewart, Jefferson, and Tuck will be professionals on different teams at opposite ends of the country, they’ll have to get used to playing against each other. Will the camaraderie endure?
The fourth player chosen in the draft, by the way, was University of Minnesota guard Rachel Banham, and the rest of the first round was dispersed evenly to colleges around the United States. Sorry, UConn, you can’t have them all… Twice before in the WNBA draft, players from the same school were selected one and two. In the inaugural 1997 draft, USC’s Tina Thompson and Pamela McGee were the top picks. In 2002, the top two selections were Sue Bird and Swin Cash from—where else?—UConn.
