Griffin Invited to WNBA Draft

Lincoln - Nebraska's Kelsey Griffin will be one of the top women's basketball prospects invited to 2010 WNBA Draft presented by adidas at the NBA Entertainment studios in Secaucus, N.J., on Thursday, April 8.

The WNBA Draft will begin at 2 p.m. (CT) with live national television coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com. ESPNU and NBA TV will televise the second and third rounds.

Griffin, a first-team Associated Press, U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Wooden All-American, was the 2010 Big 12 Player of the Year. She scored more than 2,000 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds in her five-year Nebraska career, leading the Huskers to the most successful stretch in school history, including three NCAA Tournament berths.

A program-changing player at Nebraska, the 6-2 power forward could be Nebraska's highest ever WNBA Draft pick, despite receiving very little recruiting interest out of Chugiak High School in Eagle River, Alaska.

Griffin is scheduled to be joined at the draft by fellow All-Americans Tina Charles (UConn), Jayne Appel (Stanford), Monica Wright (Virginia) and Alysha Clark (Middle Tennessee). Big 12 counterparts Alison Lacey (Iowa State), Danielle McCray (Kansas), Andrea Riley (Oklahoma State) and Amanda Thompson (Oklahoma), give the Big 12 more than one-third of the WNBA Draft invitees. 

Kalana Greene (UConn), Allison Hightower (LSU), Chanel Mokango (Mississippi State), Jacinta Monroe (Florida State) and Jene Morris (San Diego State) round out the list of players invited to the 2010 WNBA Draft.

After completing a trade with the Minnesota Lynx earlier this year, the Connecticut Sun hold the top pick in the draft for the first time in franchise history.  The Sun obtained the first overall pick and Renee Montgomery from the Lynx in exchange for Lindsay Whalen and the second overall pick.  It marked the first time in league history that a team had swapped the No. 1 pick in advance of the WNBA Draft.  Minnesota previously obtained the pick from the New York Liberty, which ultimately led to the Lynx winning the ninth annual WNBA Draft Lottery.

The Lynx now have the second and third picks in the 2010 WNBA Draft followed by the Chicago Sky and the San Antonio Silver Stars to round out the top five selections.

In addition to Griffin, Nebraska's Cory Montgomery and Yvonne Turner were included in the WNBA's Official Draft Guide of the nation's top prospects. Other Big 12 Conference players on the draft radar include Oklahoma State's Tegan Cunningham, Kansas' Sade Morris, Texas Tech's Jordan Murphree, Oklahoma's Abi Olajuwon and Nyeshia Stevenson, Texas' Brittainey Raven and Texas A&M's Tanisha Smith.

2010 WNBA Draft Order*

First Round
1. Connecticut Sun
2. Minnesota Lynx
3. Minnesota Lynx
4. Chicago Sky
5. San Antonio Silver Stars
6. Washington Mystics
7. Tulsa Shock
8. Los Angeles Sparks
9. Atlanta Dream
10. Seattle Storm
11. Indiana Fever
12. Los Angeles Sparks

Second Round
13. New York Liberty
14. Washington Mystics
15. Connecticut Sun
16. New York Liberty
17. San Antonio Silver Stars
18. Washington Mystics
19. Tulsa Shock
20. Los Angeles Sparks
21. Atlanta Dream
22. Seattle Storm
23. Indiana Fever
24. Phoenix Mercury

Third Round
25. New York Liberty
26. Minnesota Lynx
27. Connecticut Sun
28. Chicago Sky
29. San Antonio Silver Stars
30. Washington Mystics
31. Tulsa Shock
32. Los Angeles Sparks
33. Atlanta Dream
34. Seattle Storm
35. Indiana Fever
36. Phoenix Mercury
*draft order as of March 29, 2010