The opening day lineups of the 12 WNBA teams include seven players selected from Stanford in the 28th season of the league, which begins today. With seven in the conference, the Cardinals are fourth out of all schools (UConn is at 16, South Carolina is at 10, and Notre Dame is at 8).
Nneka Ogwumike, who is about to begin her 13th WNBA season, moved to Seattle as a free agent this season after spending 12 years in Los Angeles. Six-time All-WNBA selection and 2016 WNBA MVP Dwyane Wade, Ogwumike is coming off another fantastic season in which he finished sixth in the league in scoring (19.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 rpg).
On the Storm, Kiana Williams joins Ogwumike. Williams, who was first selected by the Storm in the 2021 draft, played in 14 games for the team in 2021 and 2022. She is making her WNBA comeback after showcasing her skills in Seattle’s last preseason game, when she scored nine points on three of six shots.
When Cameron Brink takes the floor for the Los Angeles Sparks for the first time, she will become the 34th player from Stanford to participate in a WNBA game. Brink, the second overall choice in the 2024 WNBA Draft, had a fantastic senior season, averaging 17.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks while shooting 51.1 percent from the field. Three-time All-American and two-time National Defensive Player of the Year, Brink was the only player in the nation to end the previous season with a PER of 45.75, the greatest for a major conference player since 2018–19. He also averaged 17.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game.
After being selected with the sixth overall selection in 2022, Lexie Hull is set to begin her third professional season with the Indiana Fever. With an average of 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds in 17 minutes per game, she has participated in 56 career games and started 29, including five last season. The organisation exercised Hull’s fourth-year option on her rookie scale contract on Friday.
Another 2021 national champion, Haley Jones, will join the Atlanta Dream for her second season. In 2023, Jones participated in all 40 Atlanta games, starting six of them. She had a season-high nine rebounds against New York on June 13, a career-high 23 points against Las Vegas on August 22, and a personal-best nine assists against the Connecticut Sun on June 15.
After spending a season in Chicago, Alanna Smith signed a two-year contract on January 31 with the Minnesota Lynx. 38 games were played by Smith during his time with the Sky, and in 26.5 minutes per game, he averaged career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. Selected as a nominee for the Most Improved Player award, she was among the top ten in the league in many categories. These included leading the league in two-point shooting (62.6%), total blocks (50), offensive rebound percentage (8.0), steal percentage (2.5), and block percentage (4.1).
After playing in 76 games with the Los Angeles Sparks (2023, 2021, 2019, 2018), Phoenix Mercury (2022), Seattle Storm (2021), and Dallas Wings (2019), Karlie Samuelson signed a two-year contract with the Washington Mystics on February 1. In 34 games with the Sparks the previous season, Samuelson averaged a career-high 7.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. In addition, she made career-high shots from the field (46.3%) and the free throw line (94.1%). She shot 42.6 percent to rank sixth in the WNBA in three-point percentage, making her one of just three players to shoot at least 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc, along with Jackie Young (Aces), Chelsea Grey (Aces), and Lexie Brown (Sparks).
Thirty-three former Stanford players have participated in WNBA regular season games since the league’s founding, and seven of them have won a total of eight WNBA titles.
More in Sports: https://buzzing.today/sports/
Photo Credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/