WNBA Draft great for the league
There was plenty of hoopla and jazz at this years WNBA Draft held recently. Caitlan Clark went number one as predicted to the Indiana Fever. A two-time National Player of the year. Clark holds scoring records throughout all of college basketball. The phenom has escalated the WOMEN’s game to new heights as attendance in stadiums and arenas and on TV.
By Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
There was plenty of hoopla and jazz at this years WNBA Draft held recently. Caitlan Clark went number one as predicted to the Indiana Fever. A two-time National Player of the year. Clark holds scoring records throughout all of college basketball. The phenom has escalated the WOMEN’s game to new heights as attendance in stadiums and arenas and on TV.
“We are people outside of basketball,” Clark previously stated. “You have your own brand.” Even if she and her draft mates are only at the beginning of their careers. “One day, the ball is going to stop bouncing,” she said. “So you want to have things in place for what’s next.”
Cameron Brink was selected number two overall by the LA Sparks. The 6″4′ center-forward from Stanford was voted as the 2024 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and won the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award as the nation’s best center.
Fashion was bis at this years draft
Clark is not alone in her star power, however. The talent and passion of players including Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, and Rikea Jackson will also rev up viewership. It was a draft where 2.4 million people looked on.
The Chicago Sky selected 6″7′ center Kamilla Cardoso from South Carolina with the third overall pick. Cardoso, who is from Brazil, helped lead her team to win the 2024 national championship with an undefeated season, earning recognition as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in the process. The Sparks also picked Jackson 4th from the U of Tennessee.
“With the energy and excitement already generated by what we anticipate will be a star-studded rookie class, and on the heels of a 2023 that featured one of the greatest MVP races in WNBA history and our most-watched regular season in over two decades,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. The WNBA’s broadcast and streaming partners are offering a huge national platform that will showcase the league’s superstars, rising stars, rivalries and a newly reconfigured WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbas.”
Charisma Osborne, right, poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected 25th overall by the Phoenix Mercury during the 2024 WNBA Draft This week at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
UCLA guard Charisma Osborne selected 25th by The Phoenix Mercury. There are only 144 WNBA spots with 12 teams having 12 players. She was first off the board in the third round.
“I think going in the third round, that’s just a number, and I think I’m just going to go out there and do my best and show what I can do,” Osborne said. “I’m really confident in my skills and my abilities. Obviously, I’ve earned this moment to be here. So I think, like I said, that’s just a number, and I’ll go out there and try my hardest and make the team.”
This past season the 5 foot 9 Fontana native averaged 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals across 33 minutes in 34 games played. She shot 41% from the field and 32.2% from 3-point land.
The 22-year-old also earned two Pac-12 All-Defense Team nods (2021, 2024) and received All-Pac-12 honors four times (2021-2023). She also cracked the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team (2020).
She helped lead the BRUINS to the Elite Eight be re falling to eventual National Champions LSU.
“I’ll definitely miss the people,” Osborne said. “I love my teammates, my coaches and the staff around there, and them helping me so much. I know that in the dub (WNBA) I’ll be a little bit more independent, so I’ll probably miss the extra help of people telling me what to do, but I’m excited for what’s next. I know at some point I have to grow up.”
The 2024 WNBA season is set to begin on May 14, with the WNBA television and streaming schedule featuring 12 WNBA teams, with a significant focus on the Indiana Fever, two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas ACES New York Liberty, Dallas Wings and Phoenix Mercury. Ahead of the draft, it was announced that 36 of 40 Indiana Fever Games are set to be featured by WNBA’s national broadcast and streaming partners, anticipating the arrival of Clark.
We are all looking forward to watching the WNBA this season.
