Haley Jones’ WNBA Draft night: Selected by Atlanta was ‘everything I could have dreamed of’

NEW YORK — Haley Jones admits that she’s a bit of a control freak. She also hates surprises. As a result, Monday night “was not the best for me,” she said. While the first few selections of the 2023 WNBA Draft were made, the Stanford star waited to hear her name called and for the next stage of her basketball journey to begin. She said she felt “calm with a tad bit of anxiety.” Haley’s mother, Monique, who was seated beside her, made sure to check on her. “How we doing?” she asked her daughter as names trickled off the board and other future WNBA rookies walked on stage to greet WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

At 7:37 p.m., the uncertainty vanished. Jones learned she was joining the Atlanta Dream, who selected her sixth overall. The wait was over, but a whirlwind of a night was just beginning. She hugged her father, Patrick, and her brother, Cameron, who started to cry. But both of those embraces came after one with her mom. “So proud of you. We’re going home,” Monique told her.

Monique spent much of her childhood in Riceboro, Ga., a small town around 275 miles southeast of Atlanta. The family has relatives in the state and in nearby Baton Rouge, La. Though Haley has never lived outside of California, she knows that some comforts of home still await…