Seattle Storm select 3-time 'AP Player of Year' Breanna Stewart with No. 1 pick in WNBA Draft
UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- The Seattle Storm selected 6-foot-4 forward Breanna Stewart from the University of Connecticut with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft Thursday night.
UConn's star averaged 19.4 points and 8.7 rebounds to lead the Huskies to a fourth consecutive national championship. She became the first player in NCAA history to earn most outstanding player of the Final Four all four years. Stewart is the fifth Huskies player to be taken first in the draft.
It marked the second straight season that the Storm had the top pick in the draft. Seattle took Jewell Loyd first last year. The team also had back-to-back No. 1 selections in 2001 and 2002 when Seattle drafted Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird.
“We are thrilled to add Breanna to our roster and excited to welcome her to the Pacific Northwest,” said Storm President & GM Alisha Valavanis. “She is a dynamic, versatile playmaker and another key piece as we continue to build.”
With the team’s second and final pick of the draft, the Storm selected Lexi Eaton Rydalch at 26th overall. Eaton Rydalch, a 5-foot-10 guard from Brigham Young University, ranked fifth in the nation with 24.2 points per game as a senior this past season. She led the Cougars to their first West Coast Conference regular-season title and a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Named the 2015-16 WCC Player of the Year, Eaton Rydalch became the conference’s all-time leading scorer with 2,535 career points.
“We’ve had our eye on Lexi for a few years,” said Storm head coach Jenny Boucek said. “She’s a great athlete and competitor, and we are excited to work with her.”
During her career at Connecticut, Stewart won four consecutive national championships and guided the Huskies to a pair of perfect seasons (2013-14 and 2015-16). She was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in all four of her team’s title runs and won AP Player of the Year three straight seasons.
“As a part of this league for the last 20 years, I have great respect for the level of competition. I don’t know how steep Breanna’s learning curve will be, but I believe that she has the ingredients to be a very special player,” said Boucek. “Her skill portfolio is uniquely diverse, and we cannot wait to begin the journey of integrating her to enhance our team.”
A four-year starter at Connecticut, Stewart becomes the fifth Husky to be selected with the top pick in the WNBA draft. She finished her college career with a 151-5 record after leading the Huskies in scoring for the past three seasons. During her senior year, Stewart averaged 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 57.9 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from the 3-point line.
Stewart is the only player in Division I women’s basketball history to record 300 blocks and 300 assists in her career.
Seattle opens its 2016 WNBA home slate at KeyArena on Sunday, May 22, vs. defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx.