Every year, there is at least one player who rockets up the draft boards after a strong performance in the NCAA Tournament, a player who uses the national stage to show off her skills against the toughest opponents and make an impression on WNBA front offices at the most opportune time. In 2022, that was Emily Engstler, who moved from a projected late first-round pick to the lottery after helping take Louisville to the Final Four. Aari McDonald had a similarly meteoric rise in 2021 to the No. 3 pick by leading Arizona to the national title game.
Who will be that player in 2023? The lottery may already be spoken for in this year’s draft, which will begin at 7 p.m. ET Monday, but plenty of participants in the Final Four showcased their ability to elevate their games at the highest level, including Zia Cooke and Ladazhia Williams.
Then again, maybe the story of this year’s draft will be the players who excelled in the tournament but chose to return to college. The current class of draft-eligible seniors still has the opportunity to use the COVID-19 bonus year — as do this year’s juniors — and play an additional season in college before moving to the pros. Given that each WNBA team selecting in the first round already has at least 12 players under contract, perhaps it…
