5 Indiana-based players are Top-100 ranked for tonight’s WNBA Draft

IUWBB, Local Sports / By

The WNBA Draft 2022 will be held on Monday, April 11th. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will announce the draft picks live on ESPN with exclusive coverage beginning at 7pm. The draft will also be available live on the ESPN App. Top prospects will take part live as the WNBA Draft returns to an in-person event for the first time since 2019.

This year’s draft includes 5 players from Indiana schools, including:

  • 21st Ranked IUPUI Forward, Macee Williams
  • 29th Ranked Notre Dame Forward, Maya Dodson
  • 52nd Ranked Guard, Ali Patberg
  • 55th Ranked Guard, Nicole Cardano-Hillary
  • 69th Ranked Forward, Aleksa Gulbe

Both Williams and Cardano-Hillary are making movement in several national mock-drafts, with each of them being predicted to be picked up in the 3rd Round.

IUWBB Guard Nicole Cardano-Hillary scores against Minnesota during the 2021-22 season (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian)

Kentucky University Forward, Rhyne Howard is slated to become the overall #1 Draft Pick

There are currently 3 Rounds in the WNBA Draft. From 1997-2002, there were 4 Rounds. A draft lottery determines the order for the first 4 picks of the draft. The 4 teams that are eligible for the lottery are the teams that did not make the playoffs. The team with the worst record over a two-year span (current year and previous) year, has the most chances to win.

After the first 4 overall picks, the rest of the teams are placed in reverse order of their regular season records. The reverse of the current season’s standings are used for the remaining rounds.

This year, The Indiana Fever have 7 total draft selections out of the 36 total; including, 4 of the top ten.

This year’s First Round is currently in the following order, with their presumed selections in parenthesis:

1. Atlanta Dream: (Rhyne Howard)

2. Indiana Fever: (NaLyssa Smith)

3. Washington Mystics: (Shakira Austin)

4. Indiana Fever: (Kierstan Bell)

5. New York Liberty: (Emily Engstler)

6. Indiana Fever: (Nyara Sabally)

7. Dallas Wings: (Rae Burrell)

8. Las Vegas Aces: (Destanni Henderson)

9. Los Angeles Sparks: (Christyn Williams)

10. Indiana Fever: (Nia Clouden)

11. Las Vegas Aces: (Elissa Cunane)

12. Connecticut Sun: (Veronica Burton)

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