Every HBCU player ever selected in the WNBA draft

Posted By: S. Moore on April 11, 2023

Six HBCU women's basketball players have been selected in WNBA history, with Jackson State's Ameshya Williams-Holliday ending a 10-year drought after her third-round selection in 2022.

Howard's Denique Graves was the first HBCU women's basketball player drafted to the WNBA back in the inaugural WNBA draft in 1997. Graves remains the highest HBCU WNBA draft selection, going 15th overall. Graves is one of three Bison to be selected in WNBA draft history, giving Howard the most WNBA draft selections of any HBCU.

The Phoenix Mercury and Utah Starzz are the only WNBA franchises to select multiple HBCU players in their history. The Starzz made history in 2002 by selecting two HBCU women's basketball players in the same draft.

Check out the complete history of WNBA draft picks from HBCUs below.

YEAR DRAFTED	PLAYER	COLLEGE	RD-PICK-OVR	WNBA TEAM
2022	Ameshya Williams-Holliday	Jackson State	3rd-1-25	Indiana Fever
2002	Andrea Gardner	Howard	2nd-11-27	Utah Starzz
2002	Amba Kongolo	North Carolina Central	4th-8-56	Phoenix Mercury
2002	Jaclyn Winfield	Southern	4th-11-59	Utah Starzz
1998	Karen Wilkins	Howard	4th-8-38	Phoenix Mercury
1997	Denique Graves	Howard	2nd-7-15	Sacramento Monarchs

SOURCE NCAA.COM
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S. Moore
N/A, Customer Success Engineer
Spelman College class of 2017
Member Since November 2022

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