The 2024 WNBA Draft: A Draft to Remember
Monday April 15, 2024 was a day to remember. The WNBA held its 29th draft in WNBA history and, after a historic NCAA women’s tournament, all eyes were on this year’s picks. If you haven’t seen it yet, Caitlin Clark was this year’s No. 1 overall pick and is heading to Indianapolis to join the Indiana Fever. The Los Angeles Sparks made Stanford forward Cameron Brink their newest addition to the team as this year’s No. 2 overall pick. The winner of the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament, University of South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso was picked No.3 overall and is heading to the Chicago Sky.
The complete first round of the draft is as follows:
Caitlin Clark - Indiana Fever
Cameron Brink - Los Angeles Sparks
Kamilla Cardoso - Chicago Sky
Rickea Jackson - Los Angeles Sparks
Jacy Sheldon - Dallas Wings
Aaliyah Edwards - Washington Mystics
Angel Reese - Chicago Sky
Alissa Pili - Minnesota Lynx
Carla Leite - Dallas Wings
Leila Lacan - Connecticut Sun
Marquesha Davis - New York Liberty
Nyadiew Puoch - Atlanta Dream
Our Women’s Sports Club has been saying for a while that the time to invest in women’s sports is now, and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert would agree with us. In a recent article by Yahoo Sports, Engelbert said she is “pretty confident” that the league will expand to 16 teams by 2028. While Cathy Engelbert just released her thoughts on expanding into Denver, we believe the expansion should also head straight to Salt Lake City, Utah. Our data shows that Utah is in the top 10 markets reached by basketball fans as well as having a higher market penetration by our fans of women’s sports community.. Before the Stars (formerly the Utah Starzz) moved to San Antonio in 2003, we briefly saw the WNBA in the Utah market, but that was before it became the sports hub that it is today. There's a huge sports market in Salt Lake City, with the NBA’s Utah Jazz just obtaining new head coach Will Hardy and the NHL approving to send the Arizona Coyotes hockey team there. The Jazz and Arizona Coyotes will share Vivint Arena, so there’s a venue for a potential WNBA team to join the mix. Let’s not forget to mention the comeback of the NWSL’s Utah Royals FC, who recently kicked off the 2024 season. Salt Lake City has the prospective fan interest and population growth to bring (or bring back, rather) a WNBA team to the Utah market.
A List of “Slam-Dunk” Moments
Caitlin Clark jerseys, in all sizes, were nearly sold out within an hour of the WNBA draft, according to the Fanatics online store
Iowa guard Kate Martin joined the draft to support her former teammate Caitlin Clark and ended up as the 18th overall pick, heading to the Las Vegas Aces
University of South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso and LSU’s Angel Reese are getting Chicago Sky fans excited, as they will join forces for this year’s season
The Orange Carpet was a show-stopping event with must-see looks from the WNBA’s soon-to-be pros
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