Jenny Boucek
The Seattle Storm is in a unique situation. The Storm has a perennial All-Star at the point guard in Sue Bird but is looking to potentially replace another in Lauren Jackson. Holding the No. 1 and No. 3 selections, first-year head coach Jenny Boucek and the franchise have a golden opportunity to address this need in this draft and perhaps build towards a third WNBA Championship.
In a draft class loaded on the interior, Notre Dame’s Jewell Loyd makes sense with the first selection. Her skill set lends itself well as a complement at the scoring guard position alongside Bird. Loyd averaged 20 points per contest last season and led the Fighting Irish to the Final Four in each of her three seasons in South Bend. We adjusted our Draft Board earlier in the week moving Loyd to the No. 1 overall position in the ELITE 30 based on her play down the stretch of the season.
As we look at the third selection, we’ll work on the assumption that Tulsa selects Amanda Zahui B. of Stockholm, Sweden via the University of Minnesota, the No. 2 rated prospect in the ELITE 30, with the second pick. If that is indeed the case, Seattle is still presented with a plethora of post options including Duke’s Elizabeth Williams, California’s Reshanda Gray and Wake Forest’s Dearica Hamby.
Williams was a consistent force for the Blue Devils averaging 14.5 points, nine rebounds and three blocks per contest. Gray was a major factor in a Pac 12 that was the best it’s been in recent memory finishing with 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds in just 27 minutes a game. Hamby is the outlier and a name that will be somewhat unfamiliar to most of the WNBA as she enters the mix this summer. For Wake Forest, Hamby did a little of everything inside averaging 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds while logging 35.8 minutes per contest. In the end, Williams ability to serve as a long-term anchor in the middle pushes her to the front of the pack.
Brandon Clay serves as the WNBA Director of Scouting for ProspectsNation.com and owns The JumpOffPlus.com International Report, which is picked up by more than 150 colleges and universities nationwide. He serves as the Executive Camp Director for the Elite Basketball Academy Camps. He serves on the Naismith Trophy Men’s / Women’s College Player of the Year Academy and is chairman of the HS Boys / Girls Board of Selectors.
