WNBA elite draft

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.

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
1Dena Head (G)  United StatesUtah StarzzTennessee
2Isabelle Fijalkowski (C/F)  FranceCleveland RockersColorado
3Rhonda Mapp (C/F)  United StatesCharlotte StingNorth Carolina State
4Kym Hampton (C/F)  United StatesNew York LibertyArizona State
5Wanda Guyton (F)  United StatesHouston CometsSouth Florida
6Judy Mosley-McAfee (F)  United StatesSacramento MonarchsHawaii
7Bridget Pettis (F)  United StatesPhoenix MercuryFlorida
8Daedra Charles (C)  United StatesLos Angeles SparksTennessee

Round 2

PickPlayerNationalityWNBA TeamSchool/Club Team
9Wendy Palmer (F)  United StatesUtah StarzzVirginia
10Lynette Woodard (G)  United StatesCleveland RockersKansas
11Michi Atkins (F)  United StatesCharlotte StingTexas Tech
12Vickie Johnson (F)  United StatesNew York LibertyLouisiana Tech
13Janeth Arcain (F)  BrazilHouston CometsBrazil
14Mikiko Hagiwara (G)  JapanSacramento MonarchsJapan
15Nancy Lieberman-Cline (G)  United StatesPhoenix MercuryOld Dominion
16Zheng Haixia (C)  ChinaLos Angeles SparksChina

References