Despite early predictions, no UCLA women’s basketball players were drafted in the WNBA draft, which was held on Monday in Bristol, Conn.
Before the draft, many mock drafts projected senior guard/forward Markel Walker to go somewhere between the late first round and early second round. Walker earned AP All-American honorable mention honors this season, along with her third All-Pac-12 selection in four years. This season, she led the Pac-12 in assists per game and ranked in the top 15 in rebounds per game.
The pundits had also pinned redshirt senior forward Alyssia Brewer to be drafted in the later two rounds. Brewer, a transfer from the University of Tennessee, played just one season at UCLA, but she made an impact in her short stay. She led the team in rebounds per game, and ranked second in points per game.
Redshirt senior forward Jasmine Dixon, an AP All-American honorable mention in 2010-11, had an outside chance to be drafted, but she, too, was left out of the fray.
With no women’s basketball players selected this year, UCLA has now gone five years without a player drafted. The last Bruin basketball player to be taken in the WNBA draft was Lindsey Pluimer – selected 20th overall – in 2008.