| 2015 WNBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | 16 April |
| Location | Mohegan Sun Arena,Uncasville, Connecticut |
| Network(s) | ESPN2,ESPNU |
| Overview | |
| League | WNBA |
| First selection | Jewell Loyd Seattle Storm |
The2015WNBAdraft was the league's draft for the2015 WNBA season. TheSeattle Stormpicked first.
This year's draft was unusual in that two players with remaining college eligibility declared for the draft—Jewell Loyd ofNotre Dame, who had one year of eligibility remaining, andAmanda Zahui B. ofMinnesota, with two years remaining. Both players were draft-eligible by virtue of their births in 1993; under current draft rules, players who turn 22 in the calendar year of the draft can declare themselves eligible even if they have not completed college eligibility.[1] Before this season, only two players with remaining college eligibility had ever entered the WNBA draft, and only one of these did so before her fourth college season (Kelsey Bone in2012).[2]
The lottery selection to determine the order of the top four picks in the 2015 draft occurred on August 21, 2014. The team that would get the first pick would be the winner of the lottery.[3]
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2015 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:
| Team | 2014 record | Lottery win chances | Pick | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||||
| Seattle Storm | 12-22 | 359 | |||||
| Tulsa Shock | 12-22 | 359 | |||||
| Connecticut Sun | 13-21 | 178 | |||||
| Connecticut Sun (fromNew York Liberty) | 15-19 | 104 | |||||
| Shaded block denotes actual lottery result. | |||||||
The WNBA announced on April 13, 2015 that 12 players had been invited to attend the draft. Unless indicated otherwise, all players listed are Americans who played at U.S. colleges.[4]
Amanda Zahui B.,Minnesota| * | Denotesplayer who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game andAll-WNBA Team |
| + | Denotesplayer who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| Bold | Denotesplayer who won Rookie of the Year |
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| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Brianna Kiesel |  United States | Tulsa Shock | Pittsburgh |
| 14 | Cierra Burdick | United States | Los Angeles Sparks(throughSea.) | Tennessee |
| 15 | Natasha Cloud | United States | Washington Mystics(throughConn./Sea.) | Saint Joseph's |
| 16 | Reshanda Gray | United States | Minnesota Lynx(fromN.Y.) | California |
| 17 | Betnijah Laney+ | United States | Chicago Sky | Rutgers |
| 18 | Alex Harden | United States | Phoenix Mercury(throughInd.) | Wichita State |
| 19 | Brittany Hrynko | United States | Connecticut Sun(throughL.A.; traded toAtl.) | DePaul |
| 20 | Vicky McIntyre | United States | Seattle Storm(throughWas.) | Oral Roberts |
| 21 | Chelsea Gardner | United States | Indiana Fever(fromS.A.) | Kansas |
| 22 | Aleighsa Welch | United States | Chicago Sky(throughAtl.) | South Carolina |
| 23 | Amber Orrange | United States | New York Liberty(fromMin.) | Stanford |
| 24 | Žofia Hruščáková |  Slovakia | Phoenix Mercury | Good Angels Košice (Slovakia) |
