1997 WNBA draft

The 1997 WNBA draft was the inaugural 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.

1997 WNBA draft
General information
SportBasketball
Date(s)April 28, 1997
Overview
LeagueWNBA
First selectionTina Thompson
Houston Comets

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
* Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-WNBA Team
+ Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
Bold Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year
Count Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
1 Vicky Bullett ^ C  United States Charlotte Sting Maryland
2 Andrea Stinson * G  United States Charlotte Sting NC State
3 Janice Lawrence Braxton C  United States Cleveland Rockers Louisiana Tech
4 Michelle Edwards G  United States Cleveland Rockers Iowa
5 Sheryl Swoopes * F  United States Houston Comets Texas Tech
6 Cynthia Cooper * G  United States Houston Comets USC
7 Lisa Leslie * C  United States Los Angeles Sparks USC
8 Penny Toler G  United States Los Angeles Sparks Long Beach State
9 Rebecca Lobo + C/F  United States New York Liberty Connecticut
10 Teresa Weatherspoon * G  United States New York Liberty Louisiana Tech
11 Michele Timms ^ G  Australia Phoenix Mercury WTV Wuppertal (Germany)
12 Jennifer Gillom * C  United States Phoenix Mercury Ole Miss
13 Ruthie Bolton-Holifield * G  United States Sacramento Monarchs Auburn
14 Bridgette Gordon F  United States Sacramento Monarchs Tennessee
15 Elena Baranova ^ C/F  Russia Utah Starzz CSKA Moscow (Russia)
16 Lady Hardmon G  United States Utah Starzz Georgia

Note: 16 players assigned in no particular order.

Elite draft
Main article: 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
Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
1 Dena Head G  United States Utah Starzz Tennessee
2 Isabelle Fijalkowski C/F  France Cleveland Rockers Colorado
3 Rhonda Mapp C/F  United States Charlotte Sting NC State
4 Kym Hampton ^ C/F  United States New York Liberty Arizona State
5 Wanda Guyton F  United States Houston Comets South Florida
6 Judy Mosley-McAfee F  United States Sacramento Monarchs Hawaii
7 Bridget Pettis F  United States Phoenix Mercury Florida
8 Daedra Charles C  United States Los Angeles Sparks Tennessee

Round 2
Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
9 Wendy Palmer * F  United States Utah Starzz Virginia
10 Lynette Woodard G  United States Cleveland Rockers Kansas
11 Michi Atkins F  United States Charlotte Sting Texas Tech
12 Vickie Johnson ^ F  United States New York Liberty Louisiana Tech
13 Janeth Arcain * F  Brazil Houston Comets Polti (Brazil)
14 Mikiko Hagiwara G  Japan Sacramento Monarchs Japan Energy Griffins (Japan)
15 Nancy Lieberman-Cline G  United States Phoenix Mercury Old Dominion
16 Zheng Haixia C  China Los Angeles Sparks China

College draft

Round 1
Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
1 Tina Thompson * F  United States Houston Comets USC
2 Pamela McGee C  United States Sacramento Monarchs USC
3 Jamila Wideman G  United States Los Angeles Sparks Stanford
4 Eva Nemcova G  Czech Republic Cleveland Rockers Bourges (France)
5 Tammi Reiss G  United States Utah Starzz Virginia
6 Sue Wicks ^ F  United States New York Liberty Rutgers
7 Tora Suber G  United States Charlotte Sting Virginia
8 Toni Foster F/C  United States Phoenix Mercury Iowa

Round 2
Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
9 Tia Jackson G/F  United States Phoenix Mercury Iowa
10 Sharon Manning C/F  United States Charlotte Sting NC State
11 Sophia Witherspoon G  United States New York Liberty Florida
12 Jessie Hicks F/C  United States Utah Starzz Maryland
13 Merlakia Jones * G/F  United States Cleveland Rockers Florida
14 Tamecka Dixon * G  United States Los Angeles Sparks Kansas
15 Denique Graves C  United States Sacramento Monarchs Howard
16 Tammy Jackson F/C  United States Houston Comets Florida

Round 3
Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
17 Racquel Spurlock C  United States Houston Comets Louisiana Tech
18 Chantel Tremitiere G  United States Sacramento Monarchs Auburn
19 Katrina Colleton G  United States Los Angeles Sparks Maryland
20 Tina Nicholson G  United States Cleveland Rockers Penn State
21 Raegan Scott F/C  United States Utah Starzz Colorado
22 Trena Trice F/C  United States New York Liberty NC State
23 Debra Williams G  United States Charlotte Sting Louisiana Tech
24 Umeki Webb G/F  United States Phoenix Mercury NC State

Round 4
Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
25 Monique Ambers F  United States Phoenix Mercury Arizona State
26 Andrea Congreaves F/C  United Kingdom Charlotte Sting Mercer
27 Kisha Ford G/F  United States New York Liberty Georgia Tech
28 Kim Williams G  United States Utah Starzz DePaul
29 Anita Maxwell F  United States Cleveland Rockers New Mexico State
30 Travesa Gant C  United States Los Angeles Sparks Lamar
31 Tajama Abraham C  United States Sacramento Monarchs George Washington
32 Catarina Pollini F  Italy 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.

Player Position Nationality School / club team
Marcie Alberts G  United States Ohio State
Jenny Boucek[1] G  United States Virginia
Janice Braxton[2] F  United States Louisiana Tech
Rushia Brown[3] F  United States Furman
Linda Burgess[4] F  United States Alabama
Michelle Edwards G  United States Iowa
Pietra Gay[5] G/F  Trinidad and Tobago LSU
Kim Gessig[6] F  United States USC
Nekeshia Henderson G  United States Texas
Mwadi Mabika G/F  Zaire Tourbillon Kinshasa (Congo)
Yolanda Moore F  United States Ole Miss
Kim Perrot PG  United States Southwestern Louisiana
Tiffany Woosley G  United States Tennessee

See also

References
  1. "Jenny Boucek Player File". wnba.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  2. "Janice Braxton Player File: Rockers". wnba.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  3. "Rushia Brown Player File: Rockers". wnba.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  4. "Linda Burgess Player File: Monarchs". wnba.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  5. "Comets Player File: Pietra Gay". www.wnba.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 1998. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  6. "Sparks Player File: Kim Gessig". www.wnba.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
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