A surefire 2024 WNBA draft lottery pick went off the board Friday when UConn guard Paige Bueckers announced she will return to college next season.
While we await the decisions of two other lottery locks who have a season of college eligibility left — Iowa guard Caitlin Clark and Stanford forward Cameron Brink — it’s worth noting where Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson stands.
She missed eight games in November and December with a leg injury but has played every game since Dec. 19 and now projects to be the No. 3 pick in the draft. Jackson is the highest player on ESPN’s draft board who has no college eligibility left. She exercised the COVID-19 waiver from 2020-21 to play this season, her fifth in college and second at Tennessee.
If players such as Clark and Brink return to school, Jackson might be the No. 1 pick by the Indiana Fever. If so, she would be the third Tennessee player — following Chamique Holdsclaw in 1999 and Candace Parker in 2008 — to be selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft.
Jackson is averaging 18.9…
