1997 WNBA DRAFT

(Redirected from WNBA Elite draft)
'1997 WNBA Draft' - 22 January 1997
The '1997 WNBA Draft' was the first draft in the WNBA's history. Unlike later drafts, this draft was unique because there were three different stages in which teams built their rosters.

★ On January 22, 1997 a total of 16 players were assigned to each team in no particular order.

★ On February 27, 1997 an Elite Draft added two more players to each team.

★ On April 28, 1997 the four rounds of the regular WNBA draft took place.

Contents

Initial Player Allocation

Elite Draft

Round 1

Round 2

WNBA Draft

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Initial Player Allocation

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
1	Vicky Bullett (C)		Charlotte Sting	Maryland
2	Andrea Stinson (G)		Charlotte Sting	North Carolina State
3	Janice Lawrence Braxton (C)		Cleveland Rockers	Louisiana Tech
4	Michelle Edwards (G)		Cleveland Rockers	Iowa
5	Sheryl Swoopes (F)		Houston Comets	Texas Tech
6	Cynthia Cooper (G)		Houston Comets	Southern California
7	Lisa Leslie (C)		Los Angeles Sparks	Southern California
8	Penny Toler (G)		Los Angeles Sparks	Long Beach State
9	Rebecca Lobo (C/F)		New York Liberty	Connecticut
10	Teresa Weatherspoon (G)		New York Liberty	Louisiana Tech
11	Michele Timms (G)		Phoenix Mercury	Australia
12	Jennifer Gillom (C)		Phoenix Mercury	Mississippi
13	Ruthie Bolton-Holifield (G)		Sacramento Monarchs	Auburn
14	Bridgette Gordon (F)		Sacramento Monarchs	Tennessee
15	Elena Baranova (C/F)		Utah Starzz	Russia
16	Lady Hardmon (G)		Utah Starzz	Georgia

Elite Draft

The Elite draft portion was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues. It was the first time where the teams could draft the players out of a talent pool.

Round 1

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
1	Dena Head (G)		Utah Starzz	Tennessee
2	Isabelle Fijalkowski (C/F)		Cleveland Rockers	Colorado
3	Rhonda Mapp (C/F)		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

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
9	Wendy Palmer (F)		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	LSU
13	Janeth Arcain (F)		Houston Comets	Brazil
14	Mikiko Hagiwara (G)		Sacramento Monarchs	Japan
15	Nancy Lieberman-Cline (G)		Phoenix Mercury	Old Dominion
16	Zheng Haixia (C)		Los Angeles Sparks	China

WNBA Draft

Round 1

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
1	Tina Thompson (F)		Houston Comets	Southern California
2	Pamela McGee (C)		Sacramento Monarchs	Southern California
3	Jamila Wideman (G)		Los Angeles Sparks	Stanford
4	Eva Nemcova (G)		Cleveland Rockers	Czech Republic
5	Tammi Reiss (G)		Utah Starzz	Virginia
6	Sue Wicks (F)		New York Liberty	Rutgers
7	Tora Suber (G)		Charlotte Sting	Virginia
8	Toni Foster (F/C)		Phoenix Mercury	Iowa

Round 2

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
9	Tia Jackson (G/F)		Phoenix Mercury	Iowa
10	Sharon Manning (C/F)		Charlotte Sting	North Carolina State
11	Sophia Witherspoon (G)		New York Liberty	Florida
12	Jessie Hicks (F/C)		Utah Starzz	Maryland
13	Merlakia Jones (G/F)		Cleveland Rockers	Florida
14	Tamecka Dixon (G)		Los Angeles Sparks	Kansas
15	Denique Graves (C)		Sacramento Monarchs	Howard
16	Tammy Jackson (F/C)		Houston Comets	Florida

Round 3

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
17	Racquel Spurlock (C)		Houston Comets	Louisiana Tech
18	Chantel Tremitiere (G)		Sacramento Monarchs	Auburn
19	Katrina Colleton (G)		Los Angeles Sparks	Maryland
20	Tina Nicholson (G)		Cleveland Rockers	Penn State
21	Raegan Scott (F/C)		Utah Starzz	Colorado
22	Trena Trice (F/C)		New York Liberty	North Carolina State
23	Debra Williams (G)		Charlotte Sting	Louisiana Tech
24	Umeki Webb (G/F)		Phoenix Mercury	North Carolina State

Round 4

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
25	Monique Ambers (F)		Phoenix Mercury	Arizona State
26	Andrea Congreaves (F/C)		Charlotte Sting	Mercer
27	Kisha Ford (G/F)		New York Liberty	Georgia Tech
28	Kim Williams (G)		Utah Starzz	DePaul
29	Anita Maxwell (F)		Cleveland Rockers	New Mexico
30	Travesa Gant (C)		Los Angeles Sparks	Lamar
31	Tajama Abraham (C)		Sacramento Monarchs	George Washington
32	Catarina Pollini (F)		Houston Comets	Italy