The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9.
A lottery was held on October 23, 2007. The Los Angeles Sparks received the first overall selection of the upcoming 2008 draft. The Chicago Sky received the number two selection. The Minnesota Lynx came up with the third overall selection, followed by the Atlanta Dream expansion franchise at four, the Houston Comets at number five, and the Washington Mystics at number six. Some of the top draftees were Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles, Candice Wiggins, Crystal Langhorne, and Tasha Humphrey.
Top pick Candace Parker went on to become the first WNBA player to be the league's Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Fourth pick Alexis Hornbuckle became the first person to win a national championship in college (with the University of Tennessee) and a WNBA title (with the Detroit Shock) in the same calendar year.
A separate expansion draft for the Atlanta Dream took place on February 6, 2008.
Transactions
The Detroit Shock held the eleventh pick in round one as part of the Katie Feenstra/Ruth Riley trade in February 2007. The San Antonio Silver Stars held the twenty-first pick as part of 2007 WNBA draft trade with the New York Liberty that involved Becky Hammon. On February 6, 2008, the Atlanta Dream traded the number four pick to the Seattle Storm along with Roneeka Hodges for the eighth pick and Iziane Castro Marques. On February 6, 2008, the Atlanta Dream traded the eighteenth pick and LaToya Thomas to the Detroit Shock for Ivory Latta. On February 19, 2008, the Seattle Storm traded the fourth pick to the Detroit Shock for Swin Cash. On February 19, 2008, the Connecticut Sun acquired the Indiana Fever's twelfth overall pick in a Tamika Whitmore/Katie Douglas trade.
Key
Draft Round 1 PickPlayerNationalityTeamSchool / club team 1Candace Parker * Los Angeles Sparks Tennessee 2Sylvia Fowles * ^ ! Chicago Sky LSU 3 Candice Wiggins Minnesota Lynx Stanford 4 Alexis Hornbuckle Detroit Shock Tennessee 5 Matee Ajavon Houston Comets Rutgers 6 Crystal Langhorne * Washington Mystics Maryland 7 Essence Carson + New York Liberty Rutgers 8 Tamera Young Atlanta Dream James Madison 9 Amber Holt Connecticut Sun Middle Tennessee 10 Laura Harper Sacramento Monarchs Maryland 11 Tasha Humphrey Detroit Shock Georgia 12 Ketia Swanier Connecticut Sun Connecticut 13 LaToya Pringle Phoenix Mercury North Carolina 14 Erlana Larkins New York Liberty
Round 2 PickPlayerNationalityTeamSchool / club team 15 Shannon Bobbitt Los Angeles Sparks Tennessee 16Nicky Anosike + Minnesota Lynx 17 Erica White Houston Comets LSU 18 Olayinka Sanni Detroit Shock West Virginia 19 Quianna Chaney Chicago Sky LSU 20 Lindsey Pluimer # Washington Mystics UCLA 21 Chioma Nnamaka San Antonio Silver Stars Georgia Tech 22Allie Quigley + Seattle Storm DePaul 23 Jolene Anderson Connecticut Sun Wisconsin 24 Morenike Atunrase Atlanta Dream Texas A&M 25 Leilani Mitchell Phoenix Mercury Utah 26 Khadijah Whittington Indiana Fever North Carolina State 27 Wanisha Smith New York Liberty Duke 28 Natasha Lacy Detroit Shock UTEP
Round 3 PickPlayerNationalityTeamSchool / club team 29 Sharnee Zoll Los Angeles Sparks Virginia 30Charde Houston + Minnesota Lynx Connecticut 31 Crystal Kelly Houston Comets Western Kentucky 32 Danielle Hood # Atlanta Dream Hartford 33 Angela Tisdale # Chicago Sky Baylor 34 Krystal Vaughn Washington Mystics VCU 35 Alberta Auguste # New York Liberty Tennessee 36 Kimberly Beck Seattle Storm George Washington 37 Lauren Ervin Connecticut Sun Arkansas 38 A'Quonesia Franklin Sacramento Monarchs Texas A&M 39 Alex Anderson # San Antonio Silver Stars Chattanooga 40 Izabela Piekarska # Sacramento Monarchs UTEP 41 Marscilla Packer # Phoenix Mercury Ohio State 42 Valeriya Berezhynska Detroit Shock Rice43 Charel Allen Sacramento Monarchs Notre Dame
Footnotes
See also List of first overall WNBA draft picks
References
External links Results of the 2008 WNBA draft lottery WNBA 2008 Draft Order Date of The 2008 WNBA Draft