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1997 WNBA draft

{{Short description|First player selection draft in league history}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox sports draft

| name = 1997 WNBA draft

| image =

| caption =

| logo =

| logosize =

| sport = Basketball

| date = April 28, 1997

| location =

| network =

| league = WNBA

| teams =

| first = Tina Thompson
Houston Comets

| territorial =

| prev = 1997 elite draft

| next = 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.

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.

Racquel Spurlock (3rd Round, 17th overall pick) is the only player selected in this draft that ended up never playing a game in the WNBA.

Initial player allocation

{{WNBA Draft legend|1=y|2=y|3=y|4=y|5=y|6=y|7=y}}

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:1%;"| Count

! style="width:16%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:30%;"| Team

! style="width:30%;"| School / club team

1

|bgcolor=#FFFF99|{{sortname|Vicky|Bullett}} + ^

| C

| {{USA}}

| Charlotte Sting

| Maryland

2

| bgcolor="#FBCEB1"|{{sortname|Andrea|Stinson}} *

| G

| {{USA}}

| Charlotte Sting

| NC State

3

|bgcolor=#FFFF99| {{sortname|Janice Lawrence|Braxton}} ^

| C

| {{USA}}

| Cleveland Rockers

| Louisiana Tech

4

|bgcolor=#FFFF99| {{sortname|Michelle|Edwards|dab=basketball}} ^

| G

| {{USA}}

| Cleveland Rockers

| Iowa

5

| bgcolor=#98f5ff|{{sortname|Sheryl|Swoopes}} * ^ !

| F

| {{USA}}

| Houston Comets

| Texas Tech

6

| bgcolor=#98f5ff|{{sortname|Cynthia|Cooper|link=Cynthia Cooper-Dyke}} * ^ !

| G

| {{USA}}

| Houston Comets

| USC

7

| bgcolor=#98f5ff|{{sortname|Lisa|Leslie}} * ^ !

| C

| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| USC

8

| {{sortname|Penny|Toler}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| Long Beach State

9

|bgcolor=#98f5ff|{{sortname|Rebecca|Lobo}} + ^ !

| C/F

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| Connecticut

10

| bgcolor=#98f5ff|{{sortname|Teresa|Weatherspoon}} * ^ !

| G

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| Louisiana Tech

11

|bgcolor=#98f5ff|{{sortname|Michele|Timms}} + ^ !

| G

| {{AUS}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| WTV Wuppertal (Germany)

12

| bgcolor=#FFFF99|{{sortname|Jennifer|Gillom}} * ^

| C

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| Ole Miss

13

| bgcolor=#FFFF99|{{sortname|Ruthie|Bolton}} * ^

| G

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| Auburn

14

| bgcolor=#FFFF99| {{sortname|Bridgette|Gordon}} ^

| F

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| Tennessee

15

|bgcolor="#FFCC00"|{{sortname|Elena|Baranova}} +

| C/F

| {{RUS}}

| Utah Starzz

| CSKA Moscow (Russia)

16

| {{sortname|Lady|Hardmon}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Utah Starzz

| Georgia

Note: 16 players assigned in no particular order.

Elite draft

{{main|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=

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:1%;"| Pick

! style="width:16%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:30%;"| Team

! style="width:30%;"| School / club team

1

| {{sortname|Dena|Head}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Utah Starzz

| Tennessee

2

| {{sortname|Isabelle|Fijalkowski}}

| C/F

| {{FRA}}

| Cleveland Rockers

| Colorado

3

| {{sortname|Rhonda|Mapp}}

| C/F

| {{USA}}

| Charlotte Sting

| NC State

4

|bgcolor="#FFCC00"|{{sortname|Kym|Hampton}} +

| C/F

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| Arizona State

5

| {{sortname|Wanda|Guyton}}

| F

| {{USA}}

| Houston Comets

| South Florida

6

| {{sortname|Judy|Mosley-McAfee}}

| F

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| Hawaii

7

| {{sortname|Bridget|Pettis}}

| F

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| Florida

8

|bgcolor=#FFFF99| {{sortname|Daedra|Charles}}^

| C

| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| Tennessee

=Round 2=

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:1%;"| Pick

! style="width:16%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:30%;"| Team

! style="width:30%;"| School / club team

9

| bgcolor="#FBCEB1"|{{sortname|Wendy|Palmer}} *

| F

| {{USA}}

| Utah Starzz

| Virginia

10

| bgcolor=#98f5ff| {{sortname|Lynette|Woodard}} ^ !

| G

| {{USA}}

| Cleveland Rockers

| Kansas

11

| {{sortname|Michi|Atkins}}

| F

| {{USA}}

| Charlotte Sting

| Texas Tech

12

|bgcolor="#FFCC00"|{{sortname|Vickie|Johnson}} +

| F

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| Louisiana Tech

13

| bgcolor=#FFFF99|{{sortname|Janeth|Arcain}} * ^

| F

| {{BRA}}

| Houston Comets

| Polti (Brazil)

14

| {{sortname|Mikiko|Hagiwara}}

| G

| {{JPN}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| Japan Energy Griffins (Japan)

15

| bgcolor=#98f5ff| {{sortname|Nancy|Lieberman}} ^ !

| G

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| Old Dominion

16

| Zheng Haixia

| C

| {{CHN}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| China

College draft

=Round 1=

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:1%;"| Pick

! style="width:16%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:30%;"| Team

! style="width:30%;"| School / club team

1

| bgcolor=#98f5ff| {{sortname|Tina|Thompson}} * ^ !

| F

| {{USA}}

| Houston Comets

| USC

2

| bgcolor=#FFFF99| {{sortname|Pamela|McGee}} ^

| C

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| USC

3

| {{sortname|Jamila|Wideman}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| Stanford

4

| bgcolor=#CCFFCC| {{sortname|Eva|Nemcova}} x

| G

| {{flagicon|Czechoslovakia}} Czechoslovakia

| Cleveland Rockers

| Bourges (France)

5

| {{sortname|Tammi|Reiss}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Utah Starzz

| Virginia

6

| bgcolor=#FFFF99| {{sortname|Sue|Wicks}} + ^

| F

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| Rutgers

7

| {{sortname|Tora|Suber}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Charlotte Sting

| Virginia

8

| {{sortname|Toni|Foster}}

| F/C

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| Iowa

=Round 2=

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:1%;"| Pick

! style="width:16%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:30%;"| Team

! style="width:30%;"| School / club team

9

| {{sortname|Tia|Jackson}}

| G/F

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| Iowa

10

| Sharon Manning

| C/F

| {{USA}}

| Charlotte Sting

| NC State

11

| {{sortname|Sophia|Witherspoon}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| Florida

12

| {{sortname|Jessie|Hicks}}

| F/C

| {{USA}}

| Utah Starzz

| Maryland

13

| bgcolor="#FBCEB1"|{{sortname|Merlakia|Jones}} *

| G/F

| {{USA}}

| Cleveland Rockers

| Florida

14

| bgcolor="#FBCEB1"|{{sortname|Tamecka|Dixon}} *

| G

| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| Kansas

15

| {{sortname|Denique|Graves}}

| C

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| Howard

16

| {{sortname|Tammy|Jackson}}

| F/C

| {{USA}}

| Houston Comets

| Florida

=Round 3=

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:1%;"| Pick

! style="width:16%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:30%;"| Team

! style="width:30%;"| School / club team

17

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| {{sortname|Racquel|Spurlock}} #

| C

| {{USA}}

| Houston Comets

| Louisiana Tech

18

| {{sortname|Chantel|Tremitiere}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| Auburn

19

| {{sortname|Katrina|Colleton}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| Maryland

20

| {{sortname|Tina|Nicholson}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Cleveland Rockers

| Penn State

21

| {{sortname|Raegan|Scott|Raegan Pebley}}

| F/C

| {{USA}}

| Utah Starzz

| Colorado

22

| {{sortname|Trena|Trice}}

| F/C

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| NC State

23

| {{sortname|Debra|Williams|dab=basketball}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Charlotte Sting

| Louisiana Tech

24

|{{sortname|Umeki|Webb}}

| G/F

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| NC State

=Round 4=

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:1%;"| Pick

! style="width:16%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:30%;"| Team

! style="width:30%;"| School / club team

25

| {{sortname|Monique|Ambers}}

| F

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

| Arizona State

26

| {{sortname|Andrea|Congreaves}}

| F/C

| {{GBR}}

| Charlotte Sting

| Mercer

27

| {{sortname|Kisha|Ford}}

| G/F

| {{USA}}

| New York Liberty

| Georgia Tech

28

| {{sortname|Kim|Williams|dab=basketball}}

| G

| {{USA}}

| Utah Starzz

| DePaul

29

| {{sortname|Anita|Maxwell}}

| F

| {{USA}}

| Cleveland Rockers

| New Mexico State

30

| {{sortname|Travesa|Gant}}

| C

| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

| Lamar

31

| {{sortname|Tajama|Abraham}}

| C

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

| George Washington

32

| {{sortname|Catarina|Pollini}}

| F

| {{ITA}}

| 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.

class="wikitable sortable sortable"
style="width:19%;"| Player

! style="width:1%;"| Position

! style="width:16%;"| Nationality

! style="width:20%;"| School / club team

{{sortname|Marcie|Alberts}}

|G

|{{USA}}

|Ohio State

{{sortname|Jenny|Boucek}}{{cite web |url=http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/jenny_boucek.html |title=Jenny Boucek Player File |website=wnba.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010430030949/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/jenny_boucek.html |archive-date=30 April 2001 |url-status=dead}}

|G

|{{USA}}

|Virginia

{{sortname|Rushia|Brown}}{{cite web |url=http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/rushia_brown.html |title=Rushia Brown Player File: Rockers |website=wnba.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010415021010/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/rushia_brown.html |archive-date=15 April 2001 |url-status=dead}}

|F

|{{USA}}

|Furman

{{sortname|Linda|Burgess}}{{cite web |url=http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/linda_burgess.html |title=Linda Burgess Player File: Monarchs |website=wnba.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010220211709/http://wnba.com/playerfile/career/linda_burgess.html |archive-date=20 February 2001 |url-status=dead}}

| F

| {{USA}}

| Alabama

{{sortname|Pietra|Gay}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/pietra_gay.html |title=Comets Player File: Pietra Gay |website=www.wnba.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980208062146/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/pietra_gay.html |archive-date=8 February 1998 |url-status=dead}}

|G/F

|{{TTO}}

|LSU

{{sortname|Kim|Gessig}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/kim_gessig.html |title=Sparks Player File: Kim Gessig |website=www.wnba.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010712172125/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/kim_gessig.html |archive-date=12 July 2001 |url-status=dead}}

|F

|{{USA}}

|USC

{{sortname|Nekeshia|Henderson}}

|G

|{{USA}}

|Texas

bgcolor="#FBCEB1"|{{sortname|Mwadi|Mabika}} *

| G/F

| {{ZAI}}

| Tourbillon Kinshasa (Congo)

{{sortname|Yolanda|Moore}}

|F

|{{USA}}

|Ole Miss

{{sortname|Kim|Perrot}}

|PG

|{{USA}}

|Southwestern Louisiana

{{sortname|Tiffany|Woosley}}

|G

|{{USA}}

|Tennessee

See also

References

  • {{cite web | url=http://origin.wnba.com/history/alltime_draft_list.html | title=All-Time WNBA Draft List | access-date=August 6, 2016 | publisher=WNBA | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509153954/http://www.wnba.com/history/alltime_draft_list.html | archive-date=May 9, 2008 | url-status=dead }}
  • {{cite web|title=WNBA Elite Draft|url=http://www.nba.com/wnba/elite_draft.html|publisher=WNBA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970416054508/http://www.nba.com/wnba/elite_draft.html|archive-date=April 16, 1997|access-date=August 6, 2016}}

{{WNBA Drafts}}

{{1997 WNBA draft}}

{{1997 WNBA season by team}}

Category:WNBA draft

Draft