1997 WNBA draft
The 1997 WNBA draft was the inaugural 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. On April 28, 1997, the four rounds of the regular WNBA draft took place. Draftees Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson would become the core pieces of the Houston Comets dynasty.
| 1997 WNBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | April 28, 1997 |
| Overview | |
| League | WNBA |
| First selection | Tina Thompson Houston Comets |
Key
| G | Guard | F | Forward | C | Center |
Initial player allocation
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Note: 16 players assigned in no particular order.
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 |
| 4 | Kym 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Wendy Palmer ^ | F | |
Utah Starzz | Virginia |
| 10 | Lynette Woodard | G | |
Cleveland Rockers | Kansas |
| 11 | Michi Atkins | F | |
Charlotte Sting | Texas Tech |
| 12 | Vickie Johnson ^ | F | |
New York Liberty | Louisiana Tech |
| 13 | Janeth Arcain ^ | F |  |
Houston Comets | Polti (Brazil) |
| 14 | Mikiko Hagiwara | G |  |
Sacramento Monarchs | Japan Energy Griffins (Japan) |
| 15 | Nancy Lieberman-Cline | 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 | G |  |
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 |
| 13 | Merlakia Jones ^ | G/F | |
Cleveland Rockers | Florida |
| 14 | Tamecka 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 | F/C | |
Utah Starzz | Colorado |
| 22 | Trena Trice | F/C | |
New York Liberty | NC State |
| 23 | Debra Williams | G | |
Charlotte Sting | Louisiana Tech |
| 24 | Umeki 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 | 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 | Texas |
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 team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcie Alberts | G | |
Ohio State |
| Jenny Boucek[1] | G | |
Virginia |
| Janice Braxton[2] | F | |
Louisiana Tech |
| Rushia Brown[3] | F | |
Furman |
| Linda Burgess[4] | F | |
Alabama |
| Michelle Edwards | G | |
Iowa |
| Pietra Gay[5] | G/F |  |
LSU |
| Kim Gessig[6] | F | |
USC |
| Nekeshia Henderson | G | |
Texas |
| Mwadi Mabika | G/F |  |
Tourbillon Kinshasa (Congo) |
| Yolanda Moore | F | |
Ole Miss |
| Kim Perrot | PG | |
Southwestern Louisiana |
| Tiffany Woosley | G | |
Tennessee |
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References
- https://web.archive.org/web/20010430030949/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/jenny_boucek.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20010305025641/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/janice_braxton.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20010415021010/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/rushia_brown.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20010220211709/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/linda_burgess.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/19980208062146/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/pietra_gay.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20010712172125/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/kim_gessig.html
- "All-Time WNBA Draft List". WNBA. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
- "WNBA Elite Draft". WNBA. Archived from the original on April 16, 1997. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
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