NEW YORK — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese headline a list of 15 recent college stars who have been invited to the WNBA draft on Monday, the league announced Thursday.
Clark, who is the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball history, is expected to go first to the Indiana Fever. It's the second consecutive year the Fever have the top pick; last year, they selected center Aliyah Boston, with the former South Carolina star becoming the WNBA's rookie of the year.
"There's a tremendous amount of excitement now with having back-to-back picks," Indiana general manager Lin Dunn said. "And I think you've seen a great deal of interest in ticket sales around this pick, and I think we're all excited about adding another top pick to this young team.
"So is there a lot going on? Is there a lot of noise? Is there a lot of excitement? Absolutely."
Clark, a 6-foot guard known for her extra-long 3-pointers, helped Iowa reach the national championship game the past two seasons, with the Hawkeyes losing to LSU in 2023 and to unbeaten South Carolina last weekend. She helped the NCAA women's basketball tournament have its highest ratings ever, including 18.9 million people tuning in for last Sunday's championship game won by the Gamecocks.
Reese helped LSU win the NCAA title in 2023 and is expected to go somewhere in the first round.
Other players invited to attend the draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music include Cameron Brink (Stanford) and Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina). Cardoso, 6-foot-7 center from Brazil who was a prep star at Chattanooga's Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, helped the Gamecocks complete the 10th undefeated season in NCAA Division I women's basketball history. She was named most outstanding player at the Final Four.
The other 11 invitees are Aliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl (Connecticut), Jacy Sheldon and Celeste Taylor (Ohio State), Marquesha Davis (Ole Miss), Dyaisha Fair (Syracuse), Rickea Jackson (Tennessee), Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech) Charisma Osborne (UCLA), Alissa Pili (Utah) and Nyadiew Puoch from Australia.
The Los Angeles Sparks hold the second and fourth picks, with Chicago selecting third. Dallas is fifth and Washington sixth, while Minnesota, Chicago, Dallas, Connecticut, New York and Atlanta close out the first round.
In all there are three rounds and 36 picks total.
"You know, the hardest part of this conversation every year is the reality that second- and third-round picks have a really hard time making WNBA rosters," ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said. "First-round picks that go late have a hard time making WNBA rosters. We talk about a league of 144. It's not a league of 144. Many of these teams only carry 11 players, and maybe by the end of the season they can carry a 12th."