2008 WNBA draft

The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9.

2008 WNBA draft
General information
Sport	Basketball
Date(s)	April 9, 2008
Location	Tampa, Florida
Network(s)	ESPN2, NBATV, ESPNU
Overview
League	WNBA
Expansion teams	Atlanta Dream
First selection	Candace Parker Los Angeles Sparks
← 2007 2009 →

A lottery was held on October 23, 2007. The Los Angeles Sparks received the first overall selection of the upcoming 2008 draft. The Chicago Sky received the number two selection. The Minnesota Lynx came up with the third overall selection, followed by the Atlanta Dream expansion franchise at four, the Houston Comets at number five, and the Washington Mystics at number six. Some of the top draftees were Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles, Candice Wiggins, Crystal Langhorne, and Tasha Humphrey.

Top pick Candace Parker went on to become the first WNBA player to be the league's Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Fourth pick Alexis Hornbuckle became the first person to win a national championship in college (with the University of Tennessee) and a WNBA title (with the Detroit Shock) in the same calendar year.

A separate expansion draft for the Atlanta Dream took place on February 6, 2008.^[1]

Transactions

Main article: List of 2008 WNBA season transactions

• The Detroit Shock held the eleventh pick in round one as part of the Katie Feenstra/Ruth Riley trade in February 2007.
• The San Antonio Silver Stars held the twenty-first pick as part of 2007 WNBA draft trade with the New York Liberty that involved Becky Hammon.
• On February 6, 2008, the Atlanta Dream traded the number four pick to the Seattle Storm along with Roneeka Hodges for the eighth pick and Iziane Castro Marques.
• On February 6, 2008, the Atlanta Dream traded the eighteenth pick and LaToya Thomas to the Detroit Shock for Ivory Latta.
• On February 19, 2008, the Seattle Storm traded the fourth pick to the Detroit Shock for Swin Cash.
• On February 19, 2008, the Connecticut Sun acquired the Indiana Fever's twelfth overall pick in a Tamika Whitmore/Katie Douglas trade.

Key

!	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
^	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
*	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-WNBA Team
+	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
#	Denotes player who never played in the WNBA regular season or playoffs
Bold	Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year

Draft

Round 1

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
1	Candace Parker *	United States	Los Angeles Sparks	Tennessee
2	Sylvia Fowles * ^ !		Chicago Sky	LSU
3	Candice Wiggins		Minnesota Lynx	Stanford
4	Alexis Hornbuckle		Detroit Shock (from Atlanta, via Seattle)[a][b]	Tennessee
5	Matee Ajavon		Houston Comets	Rutgers
6	Crystal Langhorne *		Washington Mystics	Maryland
7	Essence Carson +		New York Liberty	Rutgers
8	Tamera Young		Atlanta Dream (from Seattle)[a]	James Madison
9	Amber Holt		Connecticut Sun	Middle Tennessee
10	Laura Harper		Sacramento Monarchs	Maryland
11	Tasha Humphrey		Detroit Shock (from San Antonio)	Georgia
12	Ketia Swanier		Connecticut Sun (from Indiana)	Connecticut
13	LaToya Pringle		Phoenix Mercury	North Carolina
14	Erlana Larkins		New York Liberty (from Detroit)

Round 2

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
15	Shannon Bobbitt	United States	Los Angeles Sparks	Tennessee
16	Nicky Anosike +		Minnesota Lynx
17	Erica White		Houston Comets	LSU
18	Olayinka Sanni	Nigeria	Detroit Shock (from Atlanta)[c]	West Virginia
19	Quianna Chaney	United States	Chicago Sky	LSU
20	Lindsey Pluimer #		Washington Mystics	UCLA
21	Chioma Nnamaka	Sweden	San Antonio Silver Stars (from New York)	Georgia Tech
22	Allie Quigley +	United States	Seattle Storm	DePaul
23	Jolene Anderson		Connecticut Sun	Wisconsin
24	Morenike Atunrase		Atlanta Dream (from Indiana)[d]	Texas A&M
25	Leilani Mitchell	Australia	Phoenix Mercury (from San Antonio)	Utah
26	Khadijah Whittington	United States	Indiana Fever	North Carolina State
27	Wanisha Smith		New York Liberty (from Phoenix)	Duke
28	Natasha Lacy		Detroit Shock	UTEP

Round 3

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
29	Sharnee Zoll	United States	Los Angeles Sparks	Virginia
30	Charde Houston +		Minnesota Lynx	Connecticut
31	Crystal Kelly		Houston Comets	Western Kentucky
32	Danielle Hood #		Atlanta Dream	Hartford
33	Angela Tisdale #		Chicago Sky	Baylor
34	Krystal Vaughn		Washington Mystics	VCU
35	Alberta Auguste #		New York Liberty	Tennessee
36	Kimberly Beck		Seattle Storm	George Washington
37	Lauren Ervin		Connecticut Sun	Arkansas
38	A'Quonesia Franklin		Sacramento Monarchs	Texas A&M
39	Alex Anderson #		San Antonio Silver Stars	Chattanooga
40	Izabela Piekarska #	Poland	Sacramento Monarchs (from Indiana)	UTEP
41	Marscilla Packer #	United States	Phoenix Mercury	Ohio State
42	Valeriya Berezhynska	Ukraine	Detroit Shock	Rice
43	Charel Allen	United States	Sacramento Monarchs	Notre Dame

Footnotes

1. February 6, 2008: Atlanta to Seattle^[2]

   • Atlanta acquired Iziane Castro Marques and the 2008 No. 8 draft pick
   • Seattle acquired Roneeka Hodges and the 2008 No. 4 draft pick
2. February 19, 2008: Seattle to Detroit^[3]

   • Seattle acquired Swin Cash
   • Detroit acquired the 2008 No. 4 draft pick
3. February 6, 2008: Atlanta to Detroit^[2]

   • Atlanta acquired Ivory Latta
   • Seattle acquired LaToya Thomas and the 2008 No. 18 draft pick
4. February 6, 2008: Indiana to Atlanta^[2]

   • Indiana acquired agreement from Atlanta to not select specific unprotected Fever players in the expansion draft
   • Atlanta acquired the 2008 No. 24 draft pick

See also

• List of first overall WNBA draft picks