2008 WNBA draft

{{Short description|2008 meeting of WNBA teams to select players}}

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

{{Infobox sports draft

| name = 2008 WNBA draft

| image =

| caption =

| logo =

| logosize =

| sport = Basketball

| date = April 9, 2008

| location = Tampa, Florida

| network = ESPN2, NBATV, ESPNU

| league = WNBA

| teams =

| first = Candace Parker
Los Angeles Sparks

| territorial =

| prev = 2007

| next = 2009

}}

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.

Transactions

{{main|List of 2008 WNBA season 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

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

==Expansion draft==

On February 6, 2008, an expansion draft occurred to help fill the roster for the Atlanta Dream, and the team also participated in the 2008 WNBA draft prior to the team's first season.{{cite web |title=Atlanta Dream Expansion Draft set for February 6 |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/sky/news/Atlanta_Dream_Expansion_Draft.html |website=WNBA |date= |access-date=April 17, 2025}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"

width=100|Pick

! width=333|Player

! width=200|Nationality

! width=383|Former team

1

| {{USA}}

2

| bgcolor="#FFCC00"| Érika de Souza ⁺

| {{BRA}}

| Connecticut Sun

3

| Katie Feenstra

|rowspan=5| {{USA}}

| Detroit Shock

4

| Roneeka Hodges

| Houston Comets

5

| Indiana Fever

6

| LaToya Thomas

| Los Angeles Sparks

7

| Minnesota Lynx

8

| bgcolor=#FFCC00| Ann Wauters ⁺

| {{BEL}}

| New York Liberty

9

| Jennifer Lacy

|rowspan=4| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

10

| Kristin Haynie

| Sacramento Monarchs

11

| Chantelle Anderson

| San Antonio Silver Stars

12

| bgcolor="#FBCEB1"|Betty Lennox *

| Seattle Storm

13

| Yelena Leuchanka

| {{flag|BLR|1995|name=Belarus}}

| Washington Mystics

College draft

=Round 1=

class="wikitable sortable"

width=100|Pick

! width=300|Player

! width=200|Nationality

! width=350|Team

! width=300|School / club team

1

|bgcolor="#FBCEB1"|Candace Parker *

|rowspan=14| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

2

|bgcolor=#98f5ff|Sylvia Fowles * ^ !

3

| Candice Wiggins

| Minnesota Lynx

4

| Alexis Hornbuckle

| Detroit Shock {{small|(from Atlanta, via Seattle)}}

| Tennessee

5

| Houston Comets

6

|bgcolor="#FBCEB1"| Crystal Langhorne *

| Washington Mystics

7

|bgcolor=#FFCC00| Essence Carson ⁺

| New York Liberty

| Rutgers

8

| Atlanta Dream {{small|(from Seattle)}}

| James Madison

9

| Connecticut Sun

| Middle Tennessee

10

| Sacramento Monarchs

| Maryland

11

| Tasha Humphrey

| Detroit Shock {{small|(from San Antonio)}}

12

| Ketia Swanier

| Connecticut Sun {{small|(from Indiana)}}

13

| LaToya Pringle

| Phoenix Mercury

|rowspan=2| North Carolina

14

| Erlana Larkins

| New York Liberty {{small|(from Detroit)}}

=Round 2=

class="wikitable sortable"

width=100|Pick

! width=300|Player

! width=200|Nationality

! width=350|Team

! width=300|School / club team

15

| Shannon Bobbitt

|rowspan=3| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

|rowspan=2| Tennessee

16

| bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Nicky Anosike ⁺

| Minnesota Lynx

17

| Houston Comets

18

| Olayinka Sanni

| {{NGA}}

| Detroit Shock {{small|(from Atlanta)}}

| West Virginia

19

| Quianna Chaney

|rowspan=2| {{USA}}

| LSU

20

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| Lindsey Pluimer ^#

| Washington Mystics

21

| Chioma Nnamaka

| {{SWE}}

| San Antonio Silver Stars {{small|(from New York)}}

22

| bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Allie Quigley ⁺

| rowspan=3| {{USA}}

| Seattle Storm

23

| Jolene Anderson

| Connecticut Sun

24

| Morenike Atunrase

| Atlanta Dream {{small|(from Indiana)}}

25

| Leilani Mitchell

| {{AUS}}

| Phoenix Mercury {{small|(from San Antonio)}}

26

| Khadijah Whittington

| rowspan=3| {{USA}}

| Indiana Fever

| North Carolina State

27

| Wanisha Smith

| New York Liberty {{small|(from Phoenix)}}

28

| Detroit Shock

=Round 3=

class="wikitable sortable"

width=100|Pick

! width=300|Player

! width=200|Nationality

! width=350|Team

! width=300|School / club team

29

|rowspan=11| {{USA}}

| Los Angeles Sparks

30

| bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Charde Houston ⁺

| Minnesota Lynx

31

| Crystal Kelly

| Houston Comets

| Western Kentucky

32

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| Danielle Hood ^#

| Atlanta Dream

33

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| Angela Tisdale ^#

34

| Krystal Vaughn

| Washington Mystics

35

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| Alberta Auguste ^#

| New York Liberty

36

| Kimberly Beck

| Seattle Storm

| George Washington

37

| Connecticut Sun

38

| A'Quonesia Franklin

| Sacramento Monarchs

39

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| Alex Anderson ^#

| San Antonio Silver Stars

40

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| Izabela Piekarska ^#

| {{POL}}

| Sacramento Monarchs {{small|(from Indiana)}}

41

|bgcolor=#C0C0C0| Marscilla Packer ^#

| {{USA}}

| Phoenix Mercury

42

| Valeriya Berezhynska

| {{UKR}}

| Detroit Shock

43

| {{USA}}

| Sacramento Monarchs

See also

List of first overall WNBA draft picks

References

{{cite web | url=http://www.wnba.com/history/alltime_draft_list.html | title=All-Time WNBA draft history | access-date=June 4, 2008 | 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 }}

External links

[http://www.wnba.com/news/lottery_results_071024.html Results of the 2008 WNBA draft lottery]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090820061552/http://www.wnba.com/dream/expansiondraft_080206.html Results of Expansion Draft]
[http://www.wnba.com/news/2008_draft_board.html WNBA 2008 Draft Order]
[http://www.wnba.com/news/draft_release_080225.html Date of The 2008 WNBA Draft]

{{WNBA Drafts}}

{{2008 WNBA draft}}

{{2008 WNBA season by team}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Wnba Draft}}

Category:WNBA draft