WNBA NEWS - Indiana Fever selects Caitlin Clark with first overall pick in WNBA Draft

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark the consensus Division I Player of the Year for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons was selected by the Indiana Fever with the first overall pick of WNBA Draft - ( Jon Mac - photo)

With the No. 2 overall pick, the Los Angeles Sparks selected Cameron Brink of Stanford - ( Jon Mac - photo)

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With the No. 2 overall pick, the Los Angeles Sparks selected Cameron Brink of Stanford. The 6-4 center-forward averaged 17.4 points and 11.9 rebounds while leading the nation with 3.74 blocks per game - THIS DAY IN THE NBA

NEW YORK, USA

Monday April 15, 2024

Two-time Naismith College Player of the Year Caitlin Clark tonight was selected by the Indiana Fever with the first overall pick of WNBA Draft 2024 presented by State Farm, which was held at the at the historic Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) for the first time.

A three-time unanimous first-team All-American, Clark led Iowa to its second straight appearance in the NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game earlier this month. The 6-0 guard averaged 31.6 points, 8.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds per game, leading all of Division I in scoring and assists.

Clark finished her four-year career as the all-time leader in NCAA Division I history in total points (3,951 points) and three-pointers made (548). The Des Moines, Iowa native was the leading scorer in Division I for three of her four seasons with the Hawkeyes, becoming the only player in NCAA history with 1,000 points in back-to-back seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24). Clark is the second-straight No. 1 overall selection for the Fever, joining 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston.

With the No. 2 overall pick, the Los Angeles Sparks selected Cameron Brink of Stanford. The 6-4 center-forward averaged 17.4 points and 11.9 rebounds while leading the nation with 3.74 blocks per game. Brink was voted as the 2024 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and won the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award as the nation's best center. A two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and three-time AP All America selection, Brink won a national title with Stanford in 2021.

The Chicago Sky selected Kamilla Cardoso of South Carolina with the third overall pick. The 6-7 center helped led South Carolina to the 2024 national championship, winning Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four and her second championship. Cardoso, who is from Brazil, was named to the All-SEC First Team and AP All-America Second Team. She also participated in the NBA Academy Women's Program in Mexico in 2018 (NBA Academy Latin America) and the 2019 Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global camp in Charlotte.

With its second pick of the first round, the Sparks selected Rickea Jackson of Tennessee. The Michigan native was a two time First-Team All-SEC selection (2023, 2024) and led the SEC in scoring (20.2 ppg) this past season. The Dallas Wings used the No. 5 overall pick to select Jacy Sheldon of Ohio State. The 5-10 guard was an AP All-America Second Team pick after averaging 17.8 points per game this season and helped lead the Buckeyes to the Elite Eight for the first time in three decades in 2023.

With the sixth overall pick, the Washington Mystics selected Aaliyah Edwards of Connecticut. Edwards, a two-time All-Big East First Team selection, helped lead the Huskies to three NCAA Final Four appearances in her career. The Ontario, Canada native participated in the NBA Academy Women's Program at the Next Generation Showcase at 2019 Women's Final Four and was MVP of the 2019 Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global camp.

The Sky used the seventh overall selection to select Angel Reese of LSU. The 6-3 forward helped lead LSU to the national title in 2023. During that championship season, she posted an NCAA-record 34 double-doubles and won the Most Outstanding Player award at the Final Four. Reese led the SEC in scoring (18.6 ppg) and rebounds (13.4 rpg) for the 2023-24 season, becoming the first player to do so in back-to-back years since 1990.

With the No. 8 overall pick, the Minnesota Lynx selected Alyssa Pili of Utah. Pili averaged a career-best 21.4 points per game this past season as an All-Pac-12 selection and a finalist for the Katrina McClain Award as the nation's best power forward. The ninth and tenth overall picks of the first round - Carla Leite (No. 9, Dallas Wings) and Leïla Lacan (No. 10, Connecticut Sun) each hail from France.

Leite previously played for Tarbes GB while Lacan played for Angers Basket 49 Women's Union, both in Ligue Féminine de Basketball, the top women's professional basketball league in France. The New York Liberty selected Marquesha Davis of Mississippi with the 11th overall pick. Davis averaged a career-best 14.0 points per game and was an All-SEC First Team selection this past season. With the final selection of the first round, the Atlanta Dream selected Nyadiew Puoch of Australia with the No. 12 overall pick. Puoch is an alumna of the NBA Academy Women's Program in Australia (NBA Global Academy) and previously played for the Southside Flyers the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).

The Chicago Sky opened the second round with its third selection of the draft, picking Brynna Maxwell of Gonzaga with the 13th overall pick. Maxwell averaged 14.2 points per game in her final season with the Bulldogs and was an All-WCC First Team selection. With its first selection of the night, the Seattle Storm drafted Nika Mühl of Connecticut with the No. 14 pick. Mühl helped the Huskies reach the Final Four three times in her career and was twice named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year (2022, 2023). Mühl, who is from Croatia, participated in the NBA Academy Women's Program at the Next Generation Showcase at 2019 Women's Final Four. Mühl also participated in the 2019 Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global camp in Charlotte.

With the No. 15 overall pick, the Fever selected Celeste Taylor of Ohio State. Taylor was a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year with the Buckeyes and was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in steals (2.5 spg).

The two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces made three selections in the second round, drafting Dyaisha Fair of Syracuse at No. 16, Kate Martin of Iowa at No. 18 and Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech at No. 24. Fair finished her career third all-time in scoring in NCAA Division I women's history (3,403) behind only Caitlin Clark (3,951) and Kelsey Plum (3,527). Martin was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection this past season, while Kitley led the ACC this season in scoring (22.8 ppg) and rebounding (11.4 rpg).

The New York Liberty used the No. 17 and No. 23 overall picks on Esmery Martinez of Arizona and Jessika Carter of Mississippi State. Martinez was a 2024 All-Pac-12 selection after leading the team in rebounding for the second straight year, while Carter averaged a career best 14.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game this season.

The Phoenix Mercury opened the third round with its first pick of the draft, selecting Charisma Osborne of UCLA at No. 25 overall. Two more international players were selected in the round, with the Mystics selecting Nastja Claessens of Belgium at No. 30 overall and the Atlanta Dream selecting Matilde Villa of Italy at No. 32 overall.

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

April 15, 1965 John Havlicek’s steal might be the most famous play in NBA history. It came with five seconds left and the Boston Celtics clinging to a precarious 110-109 lead over the 76ers in Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals. As Philadelphia’s Hal Greer got set to inbound the ball from the baseline under his own basket, Havlicek peeked over his shoulder. Anticipating a lob pass, Havlicek tipped the ball to teammate Sam Jones, who dribbled out the clock as the fans at Boston Garden—and Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most—went into a frenzy. “Havlicek stole the ball! It’s all over! It’s all over!” bellowed Most as the Celtics won en route to their seventh of eight consecutive NBA titles.

April 15, 1980 A Playoff record crowd of 40,172 turned out at the Kingdome in Seattle only to see the Sonics lose to Milwaukee 108-97 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The attendance record would last eight years, before being surpassed by Detroit at the Pontiac Silverdome on June 16, 1988, when 41,732 fans turned out to watch the Pistons defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 104-94 in Game 5 of the Finals.

April 15, 1984 John Lucas of San Antonio handed out 14 assists in the second quarter, an NBA record for one period, as the Spurs defeated Denver 157-154. Lucas finished with 24 assists for the game.

April 15, 1989 Phoenix retired the #44 jersey of Paul Westphal, who averaged 20.6 ppg in six seasons with the Suns. He was named the team’s head coach for the 1992-93 season, leading them into the NBA Finals against Chicago.

April 15, 1991 By dropping a 112-94 decision to Minnesota at the Target Center, the Sacramento Kings set an NBA record for most consecutive road losses with 35. Losses at Utah and Portland extended the streak to 37 at the conclusion of the 1990-91 season, and the Kings lost six more road games at the start of the 1991-92, season, before the streak ended at 43 games.

April 15, 1991 Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers handed out 19 assists in a 112-106 win over Dallas at the Great Western Forum, allowing him to move into the top spot on the NBA’s all-time assist list--ahead of Oscar Robertson--with 9,898. John Stockton of Utah eventually surpassed both men to become the NBA’s all-time assists leader.

April 15, 1992 Atlanta’s Maurice Cheeks collected four steals in the Hawks’ 95-94 win over New York at the Omni, and those four thefts moved him past Julius Erving as the all-time leader (ABA/NBA combined) in steals with 2,274. John Stockton of the Utah Jazz eventually surpassed Cheeks to become the NBA’s all-time steals leader.

April 15, 1995 Miami’s Glen Rice made 20-of-27 field goal attempts, including seven three-pointers, and finished the game with a franchise-record 56 points, leading the Heat to a 123-117 home win over Orlando.

April 15, 1995 Tom Chambers of Utah scored 15 points in the Jazz’ 105-83 victory over the visiting LA Clippers, becoming the 20th player in NBA history to surpass 20,000 career points. With teammate Karl Malone having reached the 20,000-point plateau against Cleveland on January 20, 1995, Utah became the first team in NBA history to have two players reach 20,000 career points during the same season.

April 15, 2001 Eddie Gill of the New Jersey Nets scored the eight millionth point in NBA history when he converted a layup with 10:37 remaining in a 95-88 loss to Boston at the FleetCenter.

April 15, 2001 Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz played his 1,271st career game, all in a Jazz uniform, to pass John Havlicek and move into second place for the most games played with one team. Malone trailed only teammate John Stockton, who passed Havlicek’s long-standing record earlier in the 2000-01 season.

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