The 2003 WNBA draft, both the dispersal draft and the regular WNBA draft, took place on April 24. The dispersal draft involved players from the rosters of the Portland Fire and Miami Sol teams which had both folded after the 2002 season. For that reason, Miami's picks obtained in trades were lost.
| 2003 WNBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | April 24, 2003 |
| Overview | |
| League | WNBA |
| Merging teams | Miami Sol Portland Fire (both teams folded in 2002) |
| First selection | LaToya Thomas Cleveland Rockers |
The year brought multiple changes. Along with the folding of the Fire and the Sol, two teams moved to new cities. The Utah Starzz moved from Salt Lake City, Utah, to San Antonio, Texas, changing their name to the San Antonio Silver Stars, and the Orlando Miracle moved from Orlando, Florida, to Uncasville, Connecticut, to become the Connecticut Sun. The Sun became the first franchise not to be based in a city that also was home to an NBA franchise.
The draft itself also changed. Instead of the previous four-round format, the 2003 draft shrunk to its current format of only three rounds.
Dispersal draft
edit| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | New team | Former team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruth Riley + | C |  United States
|
Detroit Shock | Miami Sol |
| 2 | Sheri Sam + | F/G | United States
|
Minnesota Lynx | Miami Sol |
| 3 | Betty Lennox + | G | United States
|
Cleveland Rockers | Miami Sol |
| 4 | Tamicha Jackson | G | United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | Portland Fire |
| 5 | DeMya Walker | F | United States
|
Sacramento Monarchs | Portland Fire |
| 6 | Debbie Black | G | United States
|
Connecticut Sun | Miami Sol |
| 7 | Sylvia Crawley | C | United States
|
Indiana Fever | Portland Fire |
| 8 | Jenny Mowe | C | United States
|
Washington Mystics | Portland Fire |
| 9 | Alisa Burras | F | United States
|
Seattle Storm | Portland Fire |
| 10 | Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough | C | United States
|
Charlotte Sting | Miami Sol |
| 11 | Elena Baranova + | F |  Russia
|
New York Liberty | Miami Sol |
| 12 | LaQuanda Barksdale | G/F | United States
|
San Antonio Silver Stars | Portland Fire |
| 13 | Ukari Figgs | G | United States
|
Houston Comets | Portland Fire |
| 14 | Jackie Stiles ^ + | G | United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks | Portland Fire |
College Draft
editRound 1
edit| Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaToya Thomas | F | United States
|
Cleveland Rockers | Mississippi State |
| 2 | Chantelle Anderson | C |  Lebanon
|
Sacramento Monarchs | Vanderbilt |
| 3 | Cheryl Ford + [a] | C | United States
|
Detroit Shock | Louisiana Tech |
| 4 | Plenette Pierson + | F | United States
|
Phoenix Mercury | Texas Tech |
| 5 | Kara Lawson + | G | United States
|
Detroit Shock (from Connecticut, traded to Sacramento) | Tennessee |
| 6 | Gwen Jackson | F | United States
|
Indiana Fever | Tennessee |
| 7 | Aiysha Smith | C | United States
|
Washington Mystics | LSU |
| 8 | Jung Sun-min | C |  South Korea
|
Seattle Storm | Gwangju Sinsegye Coolcats (South Korea) |
| 9 | Jocelyn Penn | F | United States
|
Charlotte Sting | South Carolina |
| 10 | Molly Creamer | G | United States
|
New York Liberty | Bucknell |
| 11 | Coretta Brown | G | United States
|
San Antonio Silver Stars | North Carolina |
| 12 | Allison Curtin | G | United States
|
Houston Comets (traded to Detroit) | Tulsa |
Notes:
- ^ Won a WNBA Championship with the Detroit Shock in her first season.
Round 2
edit
Round 3
editSee also
editReferences
edit- "All-Time WNBA Draft List". WNBA. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2008.