The 2021 WNBA draft was the
WNBA's draft for the
2021 WNBA season
The 2021 WNBA season was the 25th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams played a 32-game season (rather than the 36 games agreed to in the ...
. A draft lottery was held on December 4, 2020, and the
New York Liberty
The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...
were awarded the first overall pick once again in the draft.
The draft was held on April 15, and televised on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
in the United States and on
TSN2
TSN2 is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel that acts as the secondary feed of sports-centred channel The Sports Network (TSN) and owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. It was launched in its current form on August 29, 2008.
F ...
in Canada at 7:00 p.m.
EDT.
Draft lottery
The lottery selection to determine the order of the top four picks in the 2021 draft took place during halftime of the
DePaul Blue Demons
The DePaul Blue Demons are the athletic teams that represent DePaul University, located in Chicago, Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA Division I and are a member of the Big East Conference.
DePaul’s Athletic Director is DeWayne ...
game against the
Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...
on December 4, 2020, and was televised on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
in the United States and across the
TSN Network in Canada. The same four non-playoff teams in 2020 qualified for the lottery drawing:
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...
,
Dallas Wings
The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...
,
New York Liberty
The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...
, and
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
.
Lottery chances
The lottery odds were based on combined records from the 2019 and 2020 WNBA seasons. In the drawing, 14 balls numbered 1–14 are placed in a lottery machine and mixed. Four balls are drawn to determine a four-digit combination (only 11–12–13–14 is ignored and redrawn). The team to which that four-ball combination is assigned receives the No. 1 pick. The four balls are then placed back into the machine and the process is repeated to determine the second pick. The two teams whose numerical combinations do not come up in the lottery will select in the inverse order of their two-year cumulative record.
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...
knows the discreet results before they are announced.
The order of selection for the remainder of the first round as well as the second and third rounds was determined by inverse order of the teams' respective regular-season records solely from 2020.
The lottery was won by the
New York Liberty
The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...
, who had the best chance to win the lottery as they did in 2020. The
Dallas Wings
The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...
were awarded the second pick for the second consecutive year, followed by the
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
and finally the
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...
.
The Liberty would later trade their first pick to the
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...
, who in turn traded it to the Wings. This marks the first time that one team has held the top two picks in the draft in WNBA history.
Eligibility
Under the current
collective bargaining agreement
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
(CBA) between the WNBA and its players union, draft eligibility for players not defined as "international" requires the following to be true:
* The player's 22nd birthday falls during the calendar year of the draft. For this draft, the cutoff birth date is December 31, 1999.
* She has either:
** completed her college eligibility;
** received a bachelor's degree, or is scheduled to receive such in the 3 months following the draft; or
** is at least 4 years removed from high school graduation.
A player who is scheduled to receive her bachelor's degree within 3 months of the draft date, and is younger than the cutoff age, is only eligible if the calendar year of the draft is no earlier than the fourth after her high school graduation.
Players with remaining college eligibility who meet the cutoff age must notify the WNBA headquarters of their intent to enter the draft no later than 10 days before the draft date, and must renounce any remaining college eligibility to do so. A separate notification timetable is provided for players involved in postseason tournaments (most notably the
NCAA Division I tournament); those players (normally) must declare for the draft within 24 hours of their final game.
"International players" are defined as those for whom all of the following is true:
* Born and currently residing outside the U.S.
* Never "exercised intercollegiate basketball eligibility" in the U.S.
For "international players", the eligibility age is 20, also measured on December 31 of the year of the draft.
For the 2021 draft only, the WNBA and its players union agreed to a modification of the normal eligibility rules. The most significant change is that ''all'' otherwise eligible college players who wished to enter the draft, including seniors in 2020–21, had to declare for draft entry. Due to an NCAA ruling that the 2020–21 season, dramatically affected by COVID-19, would not be counted against the college eligibility of any basketball player, ''every'' college senior in the 2020–21 season had remaining eligibility. Players who wished to be drafted had to notify the league by email no later than April 1, except for those involved in the
2021 Final Four, who had a 48-hour opt-in window after the completion of their last game instead of the normal 24 hours. Players who had opted in had until midnight on April 10 (0400 UTC, April 11) to opt out.
This is similar to special 2021 draft declaration rules announced by the NBA, which also required seniors to opt into the draft.
On April 3, the WNBA announced that 52 college players had opted into the draft. This did not include players from the Final Four teams (
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, AlÄ á¹£onak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
,
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
,
UConn
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...
); South Carolina and UConn lost in the semifinals on April 2, while Stanford defeated Arizona in the
championship game
In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match sy ...
on April 4. On April 7, the WNBA announced that one of the original 52 players had withdrawn from consideration, and that six additional players had opted into the draft. Four players from the initial list of 52 would opt out by the final deadline of April 11.
[
* Asheika Alexander, Langston
* Janelle Bailey, ]North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
* Trinity Baptiste
Trinity Baptiste is an American professional basketball player. She was drafted by the Indiana Fever in the 2021 WNBA draft but was waived by the team before the start of the season.
Baptiste grew up in Tampa, Florida. She attended Hillsborough ...
, Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, AlÄ á¹£onak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
* Kate Cain, Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
* Maya Caldwell, Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
* Sierra Campisano, Cal Poly
* DiJonai Carrington
DiJonai Carrington (born January 8, 1998) is an American basketball player for the Connecticut Sun. She played college basketball for Stanford and later Baylor before being drafted by the Connecticut Sun in the 2021 WNBA draft.
Early life
Ca ...
, Baylor
* Deja Church, DePaul
* Charli Collier, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
(age-eligible junior)
* Gaby Connally, Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
* Rennia Davis, Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
* Lore Devos, Colorado State
Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...
* Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
* Dana Evans, Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
* Kysre Gondrezick
Kysre Rae Gondrezick (born July 27, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She previously played for the WNBA's Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky.
High school and college career
Gondrezick attended Benton ...
, West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
* Aleah Goodman, Oregon State
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...
* Arella Guirantes, Rutgers
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
* Valerie Higgins, Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
* Petra HoleÅ¡Ãnská, North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
* Jordan Jenkins, UTEP
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...
* Kionna Jeter, Towson
Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...
* Akinreh Johnson, Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
* Ciera Johnson, Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
* N'dea Jones, Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
* Micaela Kelly, Central Michigan
Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...
* Natalie Kucowski, Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
* Kasiyahna Kushkituah, Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
* Selena Lott, Marquette
* Natasha Mack
Natasha Mack (born November 3, 1997) is an American basketball player who is currently a free agent. She played for Oklahoma State University and Angelina College in her native Lufkin, Texas before being drafted by the Sky in the 2021 WNBA draft. ...
, Oklahoma State
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
* Tiana Mangakahia
Tiana Cynthia Mangakahia (born 21 April 1995) is an Australian basketball player who currently plays with the Northside Wizards in the NBL1 North. She played in the United States at Syracuse University. Her U.S. college career was interrupted by ...
, Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
* Aari McDonald
Aarion Shawnae McDonald (; born August 20, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in Australia. She was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Dream of the Women's Na ...
, Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, AlÄ á¹£onak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
* Blanca Millán, Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
* Johanna Muzet, Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
* Michaela Onyenwere
Michaela Nne Onyenwere (; born August 10, 1999) is a Nigerian-American basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Uni Girona CB of the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto. She played colleg ...
, UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
* Chasity Patterson, Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
* Chelsey Perry, UT Martin
* Lindsey Pulliam, Northwestern
* Ivana Raca, Wake Forest
* DiDi Richards
Deauzya "DiDi" Richards (born February 8, 1999) is an American basketball player for the Sydney Flames of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She played college for the Baylor Lady Bears. Following the 2019–20 season, Richards was ...
, Baylor
* Destiny Slocum, Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
* LaPresha Stanley, Appalachian State
Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...
* Tesia Thompson, Southeast Missouri
* Unique Thompson, Auburn
Auburn may refer to:
Places Australia
* Auburn, New South Wales
* City of Auburn, the local government area
*Electoral district of Auburn
*Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region
*Auburn, South Australia
*Auburn, Tasmania
*Aub ...
* Jill Townsend, Gonzaga
* Mikayla Vaughn, Notre Dame
* Destinee Walker, Notre Dame
* Jasmine Walker, Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
* Stephanie Watts, North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
* Tyra Whitehead, San Jose State
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
* Kiana Williams
Kiana Williams (born April 9, 1999) is an American basketball player who last played for the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA. She was drafted by the Storm with the 18th pick in the 2021 WNBA draft after playing college basketball at Stanford.
Col ...
, Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
* Aaliyah Wilson
Aaliyah Wilson (born August 28, 1998) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She was selected 11th overall in the 2021 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm and was traded to the Fever before the start of the seaso ...
, Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
* Jenn Wirth, Gonzaga
* LeeAnne Wirth, Gonzaga
Key
Draft
First round
Second round
Third round
Footnotes
References
{{WNBA Drafts
Women's National Basketball Association Draft
WNBA draft