Women's Basketball Is this the most star power we've had in the WNBA?

[Jacob Rayburn]

I find myself checking WNBA box scores this season, and that's a first for me. Has Stanford ever had so many quality starters in the WNBA?

• Nneka Ogwumike is one of the league's best players and a pillar in the professional women's basketball community. She's up in Seattle and isn't slowing down.
• Alanna Smith worked through intense competition for a couple of years to earn a stable spot in the WNBA, and now she's one of the best versatile bigs in the league. She and Brink are among the best shot blockers. A quick reminder: Smith produced one of the greatest individual seasons in 2018, ranking in the top 10 for total points, ppg, and blocks and No. 12 for three-pointers made in a season. She made 40% of her 3FGA and added almost nine rebounds a game.
• Cameron Brink is one of the brightest new stars in the league, and LA is the perfect city for her. She's a marketing dream. Her production is up and down game-to-game, but she's doing well overall.
• Karlie Samuelson is a great WNBA starter, and I'm so impressed with how she worked her butt off to go from role player through three seasons at Stanford to averaging 11 ppg for the Washington Mystics this season. She broke through last season with 23 starts for the Sparks. She's had a lot of success playing overseas.
• Haley Jones is a starter for Atlanta but is struggling a bit.

Lexie Hull and Kiana Williams are clinging to roster spots. Williams' grip is by far the weakest between the two. She excelled in Turkey's league last season, but sticking on a WNBA roster is an unfair challenge. Hull hasn't played much so far this season. She has struggled to be a consistent scorer, but Indiana kept her for the fourth season of her rookie contract because of everything else she can do. Still, it's difficult for me to imagine she's with Indiana next season if she can't significantly increase her scoring.

I wish things were different between Stanford and DiJonai Carrington because she's a great professional player. She took a step back last season, but she's excelling this season.

In overseas news, Ashten Prechtel and Nadia Fingall are doing very well. Prechtel was an All-Star in France, and Fingall was the Spanish league finals MVP. I wish we could get a do-over with Prechtel's senior season at Stanford without Betts on the roster.

 

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