Danielle McCray (born October 8, 1987) is an American professional basketball player. She was selected seventh overall in the

2010 WNBA Draft The 2010 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 8, 2010. The first round was shown on ESPN2 ( HD), while the second and ...

by the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

. She played collegiately for the Kansas Jayhawks where she was named a second-team All-American during her senior season. McCray is the highest-picked player in KU's history.

Early life

McCray was born in

Boynton Beach, Florida Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated about 57 miles north of Miami. The population was 68,217 at the 2010 census. In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 78,679 according to the University o ...

, and as a young child, her family moved to

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 population of 141,290. History 19th century Olathe wa ...

. McCray attended

Olathe East High School Olathe East High School is a public high school located in Olathe, Kansas, United States, serving students in grades 9-12. The school is one of five high schools in the Olathe USD 233 school district. Olathe East is a member of the Kansas State ...

and was an All-State selection. During her senior season, she accepted an athletic scholarship to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Collegiate career

McCray concluded her career ranked in the top 10 of nine categories — including fourth in all-time scoring with 1,934 points — and with a good deal of hardware.

Kansas statistics

Source

USA Basketball

McCray was named a member of the team representing the US at the 2009 World University Games held in

Belgrade, Serbia Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 millio ...

. The team won all seven games to earn the gold medal. McCray led the team in scoring in the semi-final game against Australia, and was the second leading scorer overall, averaging 12.0 points per game

WNBA

Danielle McCray was selected 7th overall by the Connecticut Sun in the 2010 WNBA Draft. According to several analysts, McCray would have been selected in the top four had she not suffered an ACL injury she suffered on February 2, 2010. McCray's pick makes her the highest-selected player in the WNBA Draft in KU's history. Additionally, her selection makes her the first Jayhawk drafted into the WNBA since Jaclyn Johnson was taken by the Orlando Miracle with the 42nd pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCray, Danielle 1987 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from Florida Basketball players from Kansas Connecticut Sun draft picks Connecticut Sun players Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball players Sportspeople from Olathe, Kansas Sportspeople from Boynton Beach, Florida Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade