A day Jillian Alleyne has long dreamed about is finally here.
The 2016 WNBA Draft takes place this afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. ESPN2 will carry first-round coverage and ESPNU will have rounds two and three.
Alleyne, the co-Pac-12 Player of the Year, averaged 19 points and 13.6 rebounds in a prolific career at Oregon. It’s unclear how a torn ACL will affect her draft stock, though many analysts have her as a second-round pick.
After talking with a few WNBA general managers and head coaches, Oregon coach Kelly Graves believes the rehab process can be valuable for Alleyne.
“I think it can be a positive that she doesn’t play this year,” Graves said. “Very few teams have more than one or two open spots anyway. So a team like Atlanta that has four of the top 15 picks — they can probably stand to pick her higher knowing that they’ll have her rights for the next year.”
Graves said Alleyne’s progress as a basketball player over the last two seasons has been nothing short of remarkable.
The Fontana, California native is both the Oregon and the Pac-12’s all-time rebounding leader with 1,712 boards. She was the 10th player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 points and 1,500 rebounds. She finished her time with 2,151 points.
“She’s a lot more polished as a complete basketball player,” Graves said.
Alleyne tonight can become just the sixth Oregon Duck drafted into the WNBA. The highest an Oregon player has gone was Jenny Mowe as the 21st pick. Oregon’s draftee came in 2012 with Amanda Johnson at No. 33 to the Phoenix Mercury.
The Associated Press named Alleyne third team All-American on March 28. She also earned second team All-American honors from the Senior CLASS award.
Alleyne said she hasn’t yet hired an agent. She’s talked closely with former WNBA player and Oregon assistant coach Nicole Powell to learn more about the process.
“To be able to be drafted — not a lot of players get to say that,” Alleyne said. “It’s a blessing. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Alleyne joked that her mother and sister have sent her various mock drafts over the last couple of months. She didn’t read them though, preferring to tune in for the draft on Thursday instead.
“I have plenty of friends back home talking to me [about the WNBA Draft],” Alleyne said. “For me to be drafted and get the chance to compete for a team, means a lot to my family. … I have people missing class, work or school just to watch the draft.
“It just shows no matter where you come from, that if you have a dream and you really work hard for it, you can get there.”
Seattle Storm coach Jenny Boucek also predicted Alleyne will be selected on Thursday.
“There’s several teams that have multiple picks in the range that would make sense,” Boucek said during a media teleconference. “She’s going to be a good project for a team that gets her because she’s got a lot of natural ability. She’s shown great progress under Coach (Kelly) Graves, so she’s showing that she has the potential to get better.”
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