1997 WNBA draft

First player selection draft in league history August 2023 1997 WNBA draft Basketball April 28, 1997 WNBA Tina ThompsonHouston Comets 1997 elite draft 1998 The 1997 WNBA draft was the 1st draft held by the WNBA through which teams could select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. Unlike later drafts, this draft was unique because there were three different stages in which teams built their rosters. First on January 22, 1997, the Initial Player Allocation draft took place in which 16 players were assigned to each team in no particular order. The elite draft portion comprised professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues. On February 27, 1997, an elite draft added two more players to each team. Michi Atkins (2nd Round, 11th overall pick) is the only player selected in the elite draft that never played a game in the WNBA. On April 28, 1997, the four rounds of the regular WNBA draft took place. Racquel Spurlock (3rd Round, 17th overall pick) is the only player selected in the college draft that never played a game in the WNBA. Draftees Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson would become the core pieces of the Houston Comets dynasty. Initial player allocation y y y y y y y Count Player Position Nationality Team School / club team 1Vicky Bullett + ^ C Charlotte Sting Maryland 2Andrea Stinson * G Charlotte Sting NC State 3 Janice Lawrence Braxton ^ C Cleveland Rockers Louisiana Tech 4 Michelle Edwards basketball ^ G Cleveland Rockers Iowa 5Sheryl Swoopes * ^ ! F Houston Comets Texas Tech 6Cynthia Cooper Cynthia Cooper-Dyke * ^ ! G Houston Comets USC 7Lisa Leslie * ^ ! C Los Angeles Sparks USC 8 Penny Toler G Los Angeles Sparks Long Beach State 9 Rebecca Lobo + ^ IPA Lobo has also been inducted to the Naismith Hall, but as a contributor instead of player. C/F New York Liberty Connecticut 10Teresa Weatherspoon * ^ ! G New York Liberty Louisiana Tech 11Michele Timms + ^ ! G Phoenix Mercury WTV Wuppertal (Germany) 12Jennifer Gillom * ^ C Phoenix Mercury Ole Miss 13Ruthie Bolton * ^ G Sacramento Monarchs Auburn 14 Bridgette Gordon ^ F Sacramento Monarchs Tennessee 15Elena Baranova + C/F Utah Starzz CSKA Moscow (Russia) 16 Lady Hardmon G Utah Starzz Georgia Note: 16 players assigned in no particular order. IPA Elite draft WNBA elite draft The elite draft portion was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues. It was the first time where the teams could draft the players out of a talent pool. Round 1 Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team 1 Dena Head G Utah Starzz Tennessee 2 Isabelle Fijalkowski C/F Cleveland Rockers Colorado 3 Rhonda Mapp C/F Charlotte Sting NC State 4Kym Hampton + C/F New York Liberty Arizona State 5 Wanda Guyton F Houston Comets South Florida 6 Judy Mosley-McAfee F Sacramento Monarchs Hawaii 7 Bridget Pettis F Phoenix Mercury Florida 8 Daedra Charles^ C Los Angeles Sparks Tennessee Round 2 Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team 9Wendy Palmer * F Utah Starzz Virginia 10 Lynette Woodard ^ ! G Cleveland Rockers Kansas 11 Michi Atkins F Charlotte Sting Texas Tech 12Vickie Johnson + F New York Liberty Louisiana Tech 13Janeth Arcain * ^ F Houston Comets Polti (Brazil) 14 Mikiko Hagiwara G Sacramento Monarchs Japan Energy Griffins (Japan) 15 Nancy Lieberman ^ ! G Phoenix Mercury Old Dominion 16 Zheng Haixia C Los Angeles Sparks China College draft Round 1 Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team 1 Tina Thompson * ^ ! F Houston Comets USC 2 Pamela McGee ^ C Sacramento Monarchs USC 3 Jamila Wideman G Los Angeles Sparks Stanford 4 Eva Nemcova x G Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Cleveland Rockers Bourges (France) 5 Tammi Reiss G Utah Starzz Virginia 6 Sue Wicks + ^ F New York Liberty Rutgers 7 Tora Suber G Charlotte Sting Virginia 8 Toni Foster F/C Phoenix Mercury Iowa Round 2 Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team 9 Tia Jackson G/F Phoenix Mercury Iowa 10 Sharon Manning C/F Charlotte Sting NC State 11 Sophia Witherspoon G New York Liberty Florida 12 Jessie Hicks F/C Utah Starzz Maryland 13Merlakia Jones * G/F Cleveland Rockers Florida 14Tamecka Dixon * G Los Angeles Sparks Kansas 15 Denique Graves C Sacramento Monarchs Howard 16 Tammy Jackson F/C Houston Comets Florida Round 3 Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team 17 Racquel Spurlock # C Houston Comets Louisiana Tech 18 Chantel Tremitiere G Sacramento Monarchs Auburn 19 Katrina Colleton G Los Angeles Sparks Maryland 20 Tina Nicholson G Cleveland Rockers Penn State 21 Raegan Scott Raegan Pebley F/C Utah Starzz Colorado 22 Trena Trice F/C New York Liberty NC State 23 Debra Williams basketball G Charlotte Sting Louisiana Tech 24Umeki Webb G/F Phoenix Mercury NC State Round 4 Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team 25 Monique Ambers F Phoenix Mercury Arizona State 26 Andrea Congreaves F/C Charlotte Sting Mercer 27 Kisha Ford G/F New York Liberty Georgia Tech 28 Kim Williams basketball G Utah Starzz DePaul 29 Anita Maxwell F Cleveland Rockers New Mexico State 30 Travesa Gant C Los Angeles Sparks Lamar 31 Tajama Abraham C Sacramento Monarchs George Washington 32 Catarina Pollini F Houston Comets Pool Comense (Italy) Notable undrafted players These players were not selected in the 1997 WNBA draft but played at least one game for the WNBA. Player Position Nationality School / club teamMarcie AlbertsGOhio StateJenny Boucekhttp://wnba.com/playerfile/career/jenny_boucek.html Jenny Boucek Player File wnba.com 12 January 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20010430030949/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/jenny_boucek.html 30 April 2001 deadGVirginiaRushia Brownhttp://wnba.com/playerfile/career/rushia_brown.html Rushia Brown Player File: Rockers wnba.com 12 January 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20010415021010/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/rushia_brown.html 15 April 2001 deadFFurmanLinda Burgesshttp://wnba.com/playerfile/career/linda_burgess.html Linda Burgess Player File: Monarchs wnba.com 12 January 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20010220211709/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/linda_burgess.html 20 February 2001 dead F AlabamaPietra Gayhttp://www.wnba.com/playerfile/pietra_gay.html Comets Player File: Pietra Gay www.wnba.com 12 January 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/19980208062146/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/pietra_gay.html 8 February 1998 deadG/FLSUKim Gessighttp://www.wnba.com/playerfile/kim_gessig.html Sparks Player File: Kim Gessig www.wnba.com 12 January 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20010712172125/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/kim_gessig.html 12 July 2001 deadFUSCNekeshia HendersonGTexasMwadi Mabika * G/F Tourbillon Kinshasa (Congo)Yolanda MooreFOle MissKim PerrotPGSouthwestern LouisianaTiffany WoosleyGTennessee See also List of first overall WNBA draft picks References http://origin.wnba.com/history/alltime_draft_list.html All-Time WNBA Draft List August 6, 2016 WNBA https://web.archive.org/web/20080509153954/http://www.wnba.com/history/alltime_draft_list.html May 9, 2008 dead WNBA Elite Draft http://www.nba.com/wnba/elite_draft.html WNBA https://web.archive.org/web/19970416054508/http://www.nba.com/wnba/elite_draft.html April 16, 1997 August 6, 2016 Category:WNBA draft Draft