# 1997 WNBA draft

The 1997 WNBA draft was the 1st draft held by the WNBA through which teams could select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. Unlike later drafts, this draft was unique because there were three different stages in which teams built their rosters.
First on January 22, 1997, the Initial Player Allocation draft took place in which 16 players were assigned to each team in no particular order.
The elite draft portion comprised professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues. On February 27, 1997, an elite draft added two more players to each team.
On April 28, 1997, the four rounds of the regular WNBA draft took place.
Draftees Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson would become the core pieces of the Houston Comets dynasty.
Racquel Spurlock (3rd Round, 17th overall pick) is the only player selected in this draft that ended up never playing a game in the WNBA.

## Initial player allocation

| * | 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 |
| Bold | Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year |
| Count | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 1 | Vicky Bullett $^^$ | C | United States | Charlotte Sting | Maryland |
| 2 | Andrea Stinson $^*$ | G | United States | Charlotte Sting | NC State |
| 3 | Janice Lawrence Braxton | C | United States | Cleveland Rockers | Louisiana Tech |
| 4 | Michelle Edwards | G | United States | Cleveland Rockers | Iowa |
| 5 | Sheryl Swoopes $^*$ | F | United States | Houston Comets | Texas Tech |
| 6 | Cynthia Cooper $^*$ | G | United States | Houston Comets | USC |
| 7 | Lisa Leslie $^*$ | C | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | USC |
| 8 | Penny Toler | G | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Long Beach State |
| 9 | Rebecca Lobo $^+$ | C/F | United States | New York Liberty | Connecticut |
| 10 | Teresa Weatherspoon $^*$ | G | United States | New York Liberty | Louisiana Tech |
| 11 | Michele Timms $^^$ | G | Australia | Phoenix Mercury | WTV Wuppertal (Germany) |
| 12 | Jennifer Gillom $^*$ | C | United States | Phoenix Mercury | Ole Miss |
| 13 | Ruthie Bolton-Holifield $^*$ | G | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | Auburn |
| 14 | Bridgette Gordon | F | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | Tennessee |
| 15 | Elena Baranova $^^$ | C/F | Russia | Utah Starzz | CSKA Moscow (Russia) |
| 16 | Lady Hardmon | G | United States | Utah Starzz | Georgia |
Note: 16 players assigned in no particular order.

## Elite draft

The elite draft portion was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues. It was the first time where the teams could draft the players out of a talent pool.

### Round 1

| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 1 | Dena Head | G | United States | Utah Starzz | Tennessee |
| 2 | Isabelle Fijalkowski | C/F | France | Cleveland Rockers | Colorado |
| 3 | Rhonda Mapp | C/F | United States | Charlotte Sting | NC State |
| 4 | Kym Hampton $^^$ | C/F | United States | New York Liberty | Arizona State |
| 5 | Wanda Guyton | F | United States | Houston Comets | South Florida |
| 6 | Judy Mosley-McAfee | F | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | Hawaii |
| 7 | Bridget Pettis | F | United States | Phoenix Mercury | Florida |
| 8 | Daedra Charles | C | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Tennessee |

### Round 2

| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 9 | Wendy Palmer $^*$ | F | United States | Utah Starzz | Virginia |
| 10 | Lynette Woodard | G | United States | Cleveland Rockers | Kansas |
| 11 | Michi Atkins | F | United States | Charlotte Sting | Texas Tech |
| 12 | Vickie Johnson $^^$ | F | United States | New York Liberty | Louisiana Tech |
| 13 | Janeth Arcain $^*$ | F | Brazil | Houston Comets | Polti (Brazil) |
| 14 | Mikiko Hagiwara | G | Japan | Sacramento Monarchs | Japan Energy Griffins (Japan) |
| 15 | Nancy Lieberman-Cline | G | United States | Phoenix Mercury | Old Dominion |
| 16 | Zheng Haixia | C | China | Los Angeles Sparks | China |

## College draft
### Round 1

| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 1 | Tina Thompson $^*$ | F | United States | Houston Comets | USC |
| 2 | Pamela McGee | C | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | USC |
| 3 | Jamila Wideman | G | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Stanford |
| 4 | Eva Nemcova | G | Czechoslovakia | Cleveland Rockers | Bourges (France) |
| 5 | Tammi Reiss | G | United States | Utah Starzz | Virginia |
| 6 | Sue Wicks $^^$ | F | United States | New York Liberty | Rutgers |
| 7 | Tora Suber | G | United States | Charlotte Sting | Virginia |
| 8 | Toni Foster | F/C | United States | Phoenix Mercury | Iowa |

### Round 2

| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 9 | Tia Jackson | G/F | United States | Phoenix Mercury | Iowa |
| 10 | Sharon Manning | C/F | United States | Charlotte Sting | NC State |
| 11 | Sophia Witherspoon | G | United States | New York Liberty | Florida |
| 12 | Jessie Hicks | F/C | United States | Utah Starzz | Maryland |
| 13 | Merlakia Jones $^*$ | G/F | United States | Cleveland Rockers | Florida |
| 14 | Tamecka Dixon $^*$ | G | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Kansas |
| 15 | Denique Graves | C | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | Howard |
| 16 | Tammy Jackson | F/C | United States | Houston Comets | Florida |

### Round 3

| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 17 | Racquel Spurlock | C | United States | Houston Comets | Louisiana Tech |
| 18 | Chantel Tremitiere | G | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | Auburn |
| 19 | Katrina Colleton | G | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Maryland |
| 20 | Tina Nicholson | G | United States | Cleveland Rockers | Penn State |
| 21 | Raegan Scott | F/C | United States | Utah Starzz | Colorado |
| 22 | Trena Trice | F/C | United States | New York Liberty | NC State |
| 23 | Debra Williams | G | United States | Charlotte Sting | Louisiana Tech |
| 24 | Umeki Webb | G/F | United States | Phoenix Mercury | NC State |

### Round 4

| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 25 | Monique Ambers | F | United States | Phoenix Mercury | Arizona State |
| 26 | Andrea Congreaves | F/C | United Kingdom | Charlotte Sting | Mercer |
| 27 | Kisha Ford | G/F | United States | New York Liberty | Georgia Tech |
| 28 | Kim Williams | G | United States | Utah Starzz | DePaul |
| 29 | Anita Maxwell | F | United States | Cleveland Rockers | New Mexico State |
| 30 | Travesa Gant | C | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Lamar |
| 31 | Tajama Abraham | C | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | George Washington |
| 32 | Catarina Pollini | F | Italy | Houston Comets | Texas |

## Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1997 WNBA draft but played at least one game for the WNBA.
| Player | Position | Nationality | School / club team |
| Marcie Alberts | G | United States | Ohio State |
| Jenny Boucek | G | United States | Virginia |
| Rushia Brown | F | United States | Furman |
| Linda Burgess | F | United States | Alabama |
| Pietra Gay | G/F | Trinidad and Tobago | LSU |
| Kim Gessig | F | United States | USC |
| Nekeshia Henderson | G | United States | Texas |
| Mwadi Mabika | G/F | Zaire | Tourbillon Kinshasa (Congo) |
| Yolanda Moore | F | United States | Ole Miss |
| Kim Perrot | PG | United States | Southwestern Louisiana |
| Tiffany Woosley | G | United States | Tennessee |