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The following is a list of 70** players that we've considered as 2013 WNBA Draft prospects at some point during the season to update our preliminary list posted almost a month ago.
Obviously, there are only 36 spots in the three round WNBA Draft for the league's 12 teams so this list includes more than 30 players who will not get draft and probably a good number who won't even get invited to training camps. But I collected all these names (and statistics!) for three reasons:
- In terms of learning more about what makes successful professionals and unsuccessful prospects, we need to have a track record of successful and unsuccessful prospects both in terms of who is getting drafted, who makes rosters, and who actually contributes. Having a number of different styles of players really helps with that.
- The player similarity ratings I've been working on work based on percentile ranks of scoring, perimeter, and interior tendencies. The more players there are in that set, the more accurate those similarities will eventually become.
- I'm still learning the women's college basketball game which means I'm still refining my ability to evaluate women's basketball players. Sometimes I'll see a player in one really good game, look at their stats and figure out that it was an anomaly. Occasionally, I'll watch someone play, say ZOMGSHESGREAT, look at the stats, calm down, but still begin rooting for them to succeed. Other times, I'll hear people hype someone up, watch her play, say LOLNOPE, look at the stats and remain firm in my position. I guarantee you a good 10-15 players fit in one of those categories and probably aren't realistic choices for WNBA success.
Ultimately, this is a list of players I could probably say something about - you'll find that all of these players are mentioned somewhere in our WNBA Draft prospects storystream, but this should be a much easier way of sorting through all of those as we move closer to the draft.
We're going to get into separating these players into tiers for a draft board in the next few days, but just for the sake of discussion Ed Bemiss' NCAA player rater - complete with draft value projection - is an interesting place to start looking at the landscape of this (and future) drafts. But I normally begin with this sort of list as a starting point for my position-by-position analysis - not to mention adding it to the data about successful and unsuccessful draft prospects - and figured I'd share the final set I'll be working with over the next week.
2013 WNBA Draft prospects
(names in alphabetical order; heights are those listed on the school's website)
Kayla Alexander, Syracuse Orange (C, 6'4")
Alex Bentley, Penn State Lady Lions (G, 5'7")
Kelsey Bone, Texas A&M Aggies (F, 6'4")
Alyssia Brewer, UCLA (F, 6'3")
Chynna Brown, Texas Tech (G, 5'8")
Talia Caldwell, California Golden Bears (C, 6'3")
Brittany Chambers, Kansas State Wildcats (G, 5'8")
Tiffany Clarke, Vanderbilt Commodores (F, 6'0")
Layshia Clarendon, California Golden Bears (G, 5'9")
Carolyn Davis, Kansas Jayhawks (F, 6'3")
Chelsea Davis, Florida State Seminoles (F, 6'2")
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware Blue Hens (G/F, 6'5")
Alexa Deluzio, Florida State Seminoles (G, 5'10")
Nicole Dickson, Memphis Tigers (F, 6'0")
Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (G, 5'9")
Kelly Faris, Connecticut Huskies (G, 5'11")
Adrienne GodBold, Illinois Fighting Illini (G, 5'11")
Angel Goodrich, Kansas Jayhawks (G, 5'4")
Brittney Griner, Baylor Lady Bears (C, 6'8")
Elashier Hall, Syracuse Orange (G, 5'11")
Jasmine Hassell, Georgia Bulldogs (F, 6'2")
Tianna Hawkins, Maryland Terrapins (F, 6'3")
Kemetria Hayden, Baylor Lady Bears (G, 6'0")
Tayler Hill, Ohio State Buckeyes (G, 5'10")
Chelsea Hopkins, San Diego State Aztecs (G, 5'8")
Jasmine James, Georgia Bulldogs (G, 5'9")
Chucky Jeffery, Colorado Buffaloes (G, 5'10")
Morgan Johnson, Iowa Hawkeyes (C, 6'5")
Taelor Karr, Gonzaga Bulldogs (G, 5'8")
Brittany Kennedy, FGCU Eagles (G, 5'7")
Kevi Luper, Oral Roberts Eagles (G, 5'10")
Samantha MacKay, Dayton Flyers (G, 5'8")
Nadirah McKenith, St. Johns Red Storm (G, 5'7")
Victoria McGowan, Stetson Hatters (G, 5'4")
Jordan Madden, Baylor Lady Bears (G, 6'0")
Anna Martin, DePaul Blue Demons (G, 5'9")
A'dia Mathies, Kentucky Wildcats (G, 5'9")
Taleya Mayberry, Tulsa Hurricane (G, 5'6")
Drey Mingo, Purdue Boilermakers (F, 6'2")
Lindsey Moore, Nebraska Cornhuskers (G, 5'9")
Monique Oliver, Rutgers Scarlet Knights (F/C, 6'2")
Sam Ostarello, Purdue Boilermakers (F, 6'2")
Karisma Penn, Illinois Fighting Illini (F, 6'2")
Brooklyn Pope, Baylor Lady Bears (F, 6'1")
Chelsea Poppens, Iowa State Cyclones (F, 6'2")
Adrienne Pratcher, Texas A&M Aggies (G, 5'7")
Niveen Rasheed, Princeton Tigers (G, 6'0")
Adrian Ritchie, Green Bay Phoenix (G, 5'11")
Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown Hoyas (G, 5'11")
Leonor Rodriguez, Florida State Seminoles (G, 5'11")
Waltiea Rolle, North Carolina Tar Heels (C, 6'6")
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, North Carolina Tar Heels (G, 5'10")
Jenny Ryan, Michigan Wolverines (G, 5'9")
Naama Shafir, Toledo Rockets (G, 5'7")
Andrea Smith, South Florida Bulls (G, 5'8")
Andrell Smith, South Florida Bulls (G, 5'8")
Shenneika Smith, St. John's Red Storm (G, 6'1")
Taber Spani, Tennessee Lady Vols (G, 6'1")
Haley Steed, Brigham Young Cougars (G, 5'4")
Morgan Stroman, Miami Hurricanes (F, 6'1")
Laura Sweeney, Villanova Wildcats (F, 6'2")
Joslyn Tinkle, Stanford Cardinal (F, 6'3")
Carmen Tyson-Thomas, Syracuse Orange (G, 5'9")
Chatlla van Grinsven, St. Joseph's Hawks (F, 6'3")
Markel Walker, UCLA Bruins (F, 6'1")
Adrienne Webb, LSU Lady Tigers (G, 5'9")
Davellyn Whyte, Arizona Wildcats (G, 5'11")
Destiny Williams, Baylor Lady Bears (F, 6'1")
Kamiko Williams, Tennessee Lady Vols (G, 5'11")
Toni Young, Oklahoma State Cowgirls (F, 6'2")
Any thoughts on how you would divide these players into tiers? Or how many of these players might make rosters? Or, of course, who's missing? Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments.
Notes:
*Update: Chambers, Mingo added at 9:15 am. PST
**Update: Pope added at 5:40 p.m. PST