In 1997, the Women's National Basketball Association was created.[1] In order to give new teams experienced talent, the league decided to have two drafts. An elite draft was held on February 27, 1997 to allow teams to pick players that had already graduated from college and have gone on to play professionally in the United States or overseas.[2]
| WNBA elite draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date | February 27, 1997 |
| Overview | |
| League | WNBA |
| First selection | Dena Head, Tennessee |
The standard collegiate draft that most professional sports leagues hold occurred on April 28, 1997, prior to the start of the 1997 WNBA season.[3]
Key
edit| Pos. | G | F | C |
| Position | Guard | Forward | Center |
| ! | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | 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 |
| # | Denotes player who never played in the WNBA regular season or playoffs |
Draft
editThe following is the list of how players were picked in the 1997 WNBA elite draft:[4]
Round 1
edit| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | WNBA team | Former 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 | North Carolina State |
| 4 | Kym Hampton + | C/F | New York Liberty | Arizona State | |
| 5 | Wanda Guyton | F | Houston Comets | South Florida | |
| 6 | Judy Mosley-McAfee | F | Sacramento Monarchs | Hawaii | |
| 7 | Bridget Pettis | F | Phoenix Mercury | Florida | |
| 8 | Daedra Charles ^ | C | Los Angeles Sparks | Tennessee |
Round 2
edit| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | WNBA team | Former school/club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Wendy Palmer * | F | United States |
Utah Starzz | Virginia |
| 10 | Lynette Woodard ^ ! | G | Cleveland Rockers | Kansas | |
| 11 | Michi Atkins # | F | Charlotte Sting | Texas Tech | |
| 12 | Vickie Johnson + | F | New York Liberty | Louisiana Tech | |
| 13 | Janeth Arcain * ^ | F |  Brazil |
Houston Comets | Polti |
| 14 | Mikiko Hagiwara | G |  Japan |
Sacramento Monarchs | Japan Energy Griffins |
| 15 | Nancy Lieberman-Cline | G | United States |
Phoenix Mercury | Old Dominion |
| 16 | Haixia Zheng | C |  China |
Los Angeles Sparks | China |
References
edit- ↑ "The Formation of the WNBA". WNBA. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
- ↑ Mishra, Pratikshya (April 15, 2025). "Revisiting the WNBA's Historic 1997 Draft: Meet the Players Who Were Part of the Elite Draft". MSN. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
- ↑ "WNBA holds elite draft". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. February 28, 1997. pp. 3C.
- ↑ "WNBA, list". Idaho Spokesman-Review. March 1, 1997. pp. C4. Retrieved February 8, 2024.