2003 WNBA draft
General information
SportBasketball
Date(s)April 24, 2003
Overview
LeagueWNBA
Merging teamsMiami Sol
Portland Fire
(both teams folded in 2002)
First selectionLaToya Thomas
Cleveland Rockers

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.

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

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

* 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

Round 1

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 + [lower-alpha 1] 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:

  1. Won a WNBA Championship with the Detroit Shock in her first season.

Round 2

Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
13 Courtney Coleman F  United States Connecticut Sun (from Detroit) Ohio State
14 Teresa Edwards G  United States Minnesota Lynx Georgia
15 Jennifer Butler C  United States Cleveland Rockers Massachusetts
16 Petra Ujhelyi F/C  Hungary Phoenix Mercury (traded to Detroit) South Carolina
17 Erin Thorn G  United States New York Liberty (from Sacramento) BYU
18 Jordan Adams C  Canada Minnesota Lynx (from Miami) New Mexico
19 Lori Nero F/C  United States Houston Comets (from Connecticut) Louisville
20 DeTrina White F  United States Indiana Fever LSU
21 Zuzana Žirková G  Slovakia Washington Mystics Gambrinus Sika Brno (Czech Republic)
22 Suzy Batkovic C  Australia Seattle Storm Valenciennes (France)
23 Dana Cherry G  United States Charlotte Sting Arkansas
24 Sonja Mallory C  United States New York Liberty Georgia Tech
25 Ke-Ke Tardy F  United States San Antonio Silver Stars LSU
26 K. B. Sharp G  United States New York Liberty (from Houston) Cincinnati
27 Schuye LaRue F  United States Los Angeles Sparks Virginia

Round 3

Pick Player Position Nationality Team School / club team
28 Syreeta Bromfield F  United States Detroit Shock Michigan State
29 Carla Bennett C  United States Minnesota Lynx Drake
30 Shaquala Williams G  United States Cleveland Rockers Oregon
31 Telisha Quarles G  United States Phoenix Mercury (traded to Detroit) Virginia
32 Trish Juhline G  United States Washington Mystics (from Sacramento) Villanova
33 Marion Jones G  United States Phoenix Mercury (from Miami) North Carolina
34 Lindsey Wilson G  United States Connecticut Sun Iowa State
35 Ashley McElhiney G  United States Indiana Fever Vanderbilt
36 Tamara Bowie F  United States Washington Mystics Ball State
37 Chrissy Floyd G  United States Seattle Storm Clemson
38 Constance Jinks G  United States Houston Comets (from Charlotte) UNLV
39 Nicole Kaczmarski G  United States New York Liberty UCLA
40 Brooke Armistead G  United States San Antonio Silver Stars Austin Peay
41 Oxana Rakhmatulina G  Russia Houston Comets CSKA Samara (Russia)
42 Mary Jo Noon C  United States Los Angeles Sparks Purdue

See also

References

    • "All-Time WNBA Draft List". WNBA. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2008.
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