WNBA Draft 2024: Caitlin Clark leads the storylines but class is filled with talent

Clark leads the pack of WNBA hopefuls

The WNBA Draft will feature some of the best women’s college basketball stars the league has ever seen, with Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark leading the class.

Clark is expected to be selected as the No. 1 pick of the draft, which is held by the Indiana Fever. The Fever selected No. 1 last season and took Aliyah Boston from South Carolina. Boston was the WNBA Rookie of the Year during the 2023 season.

Rebecca Lobo, who starred with the New York Liberty and is now an analyst for ESPN, called the Fever a “perfect fit” for Clark.

“There’s no comparison that I can find on the women’s side, and I’ve been in this league since the very beginning,” Lobo said via the New York Post. “We haven’t seen a player drive ticket sales like this. We haven’t seen a player drive ratings like this. Look at the ratings the last four or five games she played. It’s something she had been doing all season long.

“[I’ve] never seen anything to this degree, and to me one of the things that’s kind of special about it is that she’s staying in the Midwest; going to Indiana. It’s such a perfect fit in terms of that.”

Clark stole most of the headlines during the 2023–24 women’s college basketball season as she broke the all-time scoring record in NCAA Division 1. However, she is far from the only outstanding player in the draft pool.

Stanford standout Cameron Brink is expected to be one of the next players off the board. She scored 17.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game in her senior season with the Cardinal. She has proven to be a keen scorer at the forward position.

Kamilla Cardoso helped South Carolina to a national championship and is projected to be a top five selection. She averaged 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and finished her collegiate career with two national championship rings.

Rickea Jackson was a two-time All-SEC selection with the Tennessee Lady Vols. She transferred to Tennessee after three seasons with Mississippi State. She averaged 20.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

UConn star Aaliyah Edwards was an All-American third-teamer in 2023. She built herself up to have a better season in 2023-24, averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

Angel Reese is a projected top 10 pick after her stellar two seasons at LSU. She was the Most Outstanding Player in 2023 and became a national phenomenon in the offseason leading up to the 2023-24 season.

Reese averaged 18.6 points and 13.4 rebounds per game.

Other players to watch during the draft include Syracuse guard Dyaisha Fair, UCLA guard Charisma Osborne, Mississippi State center Jessika Carter, Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon and Australia’s Isobel Borlase.

The draft will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.