WNBA Draft 1997
| WNBA Draft 1997 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| overview | |||
| date | April 28, 1997 | ||
| place | Secaucus , New Jersey , USA | ||
| Round | 4th | ||
| Selected players | 32 | ||
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| 1st position |
 Tina Thompson Elected By: Houston Comets |
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| 2nd position |
Pamela McGee Elected By: Sacramento Monarchs |
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| 3rd position |
Jamila Wideman Elected By: Los Angeles Sparks |
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WNBA Draft
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The first WNBA Draft took place on April 28, 1997 at NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus , New Jersey , United States . The order of selection was determined in a lottery .
In contrast to the later drafts in the WNBA, this one was divided into three drafts. An Initial Player Allocation took place on January 22nd, 1997 , where two players were randomly assigned to each team. Then the Elite Draft took place on February 27, 1997 , where the eight teams were able to select a player from a talent pool in two rounds. At that time, this draft was exclusively for players who were active in international professional leagues. The WNBA Draft took place last on April 28, 1997.
Initial player allocation
Abbreviations: G = Guard , F = Forward , C = Center
Elite draft
Abbreviations: G = Guard , F = Forward , C = Center
Round 1
| Pick | Player | nationality | WNBA team | College / Junior / Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dena Head (G) |
United States
|
Utah Starzz | University of Tennessee |
| 2 | Isabelle Fijalkowski (C / F) |
 France
|
Cleveland Rockers | University of Colorado at Boulder |
| 3 | Rhonda Mapp (C / F) |
United States
|
Charlotte Sting | North Carolina State University |
| 4th | Kym Hampton (C / F) |
United States
|
New York Liberty | Arizona State University |
| 5 | Wanda Guyton (F) |
United States
|
Houston Comets | University of South Florida |
| 6th | Judy Mosley-McAfee (F) |
United States
|
Sacramento Monarchs | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa |
| 7th | Bridget Pettis (F) |
United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | University of Florida |
| 8th | Daedra Charles (C) |
United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks | University of Tennessee |
round 2
| Pick | Player | nationality | WNBA team | College / Junior / Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Wendy Palmer (F) |
United States
|
Utah Starzz | University of Virginia |
| 10 | Lynette Woodard (G) |
United States
|
Cleveland Rockers | University of Kansas |
| 11 | Michi Atkins (F) |
United States
|
Charlotte Sting | Texas Tech University |
| 12 | Vickie Johnson (F) |
United States
|
New York Liberty | Louisiana State University |
| 13 | Janeth Arcain (F) |
 Brazil
|
Houston Comets | |
| 14th | Mikiko Hagiwara (G) |
 Japan
|
Sacramento Monarchs | |
| 15th | Nancy Lieberman-Cline (G) |
United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | Old Dominion University |
| 16 | Zheng Haixia (C) |
 People's Republic of China
|
Los Angeles Sparks |
WNBA Draft
Abbreviations: G = Guard , F = Forward , C = Center
Round 1
| Pick | Player | nationality | WNBA team | College / Junior / Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tina Thompson (F) |
United States
|
Houston Comets | University of Southern California |
| 2 | Pamela McGee (C) |
United States
|
Sacramento Monarchs | University of Southern California |
| 3 | Jamila Wideman (G) |
United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks | Stanford University |
| 4th | Eva Nemcova (G) |
 Czech Republic
|
Cleveland Rockers | |
| 5 | Tammi Reiss (G) |
United States
|
Utah Starzz | University of Virginia |
| 6th | Sue Wicks (F) |
United States
|
New York Liberty | Rutgers University |
| 7th | Torah Suber (G) |
United States
|
Charlotte Sting | University of Virginia |
| 8th | Toni Foster (F / C) |
United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | University of Iowa |
round 2
| Pick | Player | nationality | WNBA team | College / Junior / Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Tia Jackson (G / F) |
United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | University of Iowa |
| 10 | Sharon Manning (C / F) |
United States
|
Charlotte Sting | North Carolina State University |
| 11 | Sophia Witherspoon (G) |
United States
|
New York Liberty | University of Florida |
| 12 | Jessie Hicks (F / C) |
United States
|
Utah Starzz | University of Maryland, College Park |
| 13 | Merlakia Jones (G / F) |
United States
|
Cleveland Rockers | University of Florida |
| 14th | Tamecka Dixon (G) |
United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks | University of Kansas |
| 15th | Denique Graves (C) |
United States
|
Sacramento Monarchs | Howard University |
| 16 | Tammy Jackson (F / C) |
United States
|
Houston Comets | University of Florida |
Round 3
| Pick | Player | nationality | WNBA team | College / Junior / Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17th | Racquel Spurlock (C) |
United States
|
Houston Comets | Louisiana Tech University |
| 18th | Chantel Tremitiere (G) |
United States
|
Sacramento Monarchs | Auburn University |
| 19th | Katrina Colleton (G) |
United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks | University of Maryland, College Park |
| 20th | Tina Nicholson (G) |
United States
|
Cleveland Rockers | Pennsylvania State University |
| 21st | Raegan Scott (F / C) |
United States
|
Utah Starzz | University of Colorado at Boulder |
| 22nd | Trena Trice (F / C) |
United States
|
New York Liberty | North Carolina State University |
| 23 | Debra Williams (G) |
United States
|
Charlotte Sting | Louisiana Tech University |
| 24 | Umeki Webb (G / F) |
United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | North Carolina State University |
Round 4
| Pick | Player | nationality | WNBA team | College / Junior / Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th | Monique Ambers (F) |
United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | Arizona State University |
| 26th | Andrea Congreaves (F / C) |
 United Kingdom
|
Charlotte Sting | Mercer University |
| 27 | Kisha Ford (G / F) |
United States
|
New York Liberty | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| 28 | Kim Williams (G) |
United States
|
Utah Starzz | DePaul University |
| 29 | Anita Maxwell (F) |
United States
|
Cleveland Rockers | New Mexico State University |
| 30th | Travesa Gant (C) |
United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks | Lamar University |
| 31 | Tajama Abraham (C) |
United States
|
Sacramento Monarchs | George Washington University |
| 32 | Catarina Pollini (F) |
 Italy
|
Houston Comets |