User:Ø11/List of Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the WNBA Draft



The University of Tennessee (UT) Lady Volunteers women's basketball team has had 36 players selected in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft. Sixteen of those selections were in the first round of the draft; three players&mdash; Dena Head in 1997, Chamique Holdsclaw in 1999 and Candace Parker in 2008&mdash;were picked first overall. A Tennessee Lady Volunteers alumna has been selected in 17 of the last 20 WNBA Drafts.

Each WNBA franchise seeks to add new players through their respective annual draft. The WNBA uses a draft lottery to determine the order of selection for the first picks of the draft; the teams that did not make the playoffs the previous year are eligible to participate. After the first picks are decided, the remaining teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record. The WNBA requires that players be at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the applicable seasons, have either graduated from a four-year university or have completed their intercollegiate basketball eligibility, or have played at least two seasons for another professional basketball league.

In addition to the 36 draftees, two University of Tennessee women's basketball players&mdash;Bridgette Gordon in 1997 and Nikki McCray in 1998&mdash;were allocated to specific teams during the initial formation of the WNBA. Gordon was assigned to the Sacramento Monarchs and is considered one of the WNBA's first players. McCray was the first player for the expansion Washington Mystics.

Some Tennessee women's basketball alumni have had a significant impact on the WNBA. Three players&mdash;Holdsclaw, Catchings, and Parker&mdash;were named WNBA Rookie of the Year, and two of those players&mdash;Catchings and Parker&mdash;later were named WNBA Most Valuable Player (MVP). All three of them have been named to All-WNBA teams and several other UT alumni have been selected as WNBA All-Stars on multiple occasions. Four Tennessee alumni have been part of WNBA championship teams, and two have been named WNBA Finals MVP: Tamika Catchings in 2012 and Candace Parker in 2016.