Edwards, Muhl Ready to Begin Pro Careers
The Story: The WNBA Draft is tonight, and Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl will get their first indications of where their pro careers will begin — with Edwards potentially becoming one of the first five players taken (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Edwards and Muhl wrapped up their time at UConn in the Final Four and will forego their final year of eligibility (a fifth year) to turn professional.
• Edwards is a shoo-in to be a first-round pick, and Muhl’s performance in the NCAA Tournament, when she matched up against Syracuse’s Dyaisha Fair, USC’s JuJu Watkins and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, had her rocketing up draft boards.
• Edwards and Muhl will be on hand for the event, which will take place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. There are three rounds in the WNBA Draft with 12 picks in each round.
WHAT DO THE MOCKS SAY? Unlike other leagues, there aren’t a ton of WNBA Draft experts, so we take a lot of this with a grain of salt — other than the fact that Clark will go to the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 pick.
• Edwards is projected by ESPN, which as of last night last updated its projection a week ago, to the Dallas Wings at No. 5. Yahoo has Edwards going at No. 4 to the Los Angeles Sparks, and Bleacher Report, USA Today, NBC Sports, the New York Post and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune all project Edwarsd to go No. 6 to the Washington Mystics.
• NBC Sports has Muhl going in the first round, at No. 8, to the Minnesota Lynx. Yahoo has Muhl going at No. 9 to the Dallas Wings, USA Today and the New York Post have her going at No. 11 to the New York Liberty, and the Star-Tribune has her going at No. 12 to the Atlanta Dream. ESPN has Muhl going in the second round, at No. 14, to the Seattle Storm.
A WNBA DRAFT TRADITION: UConn has had 45 players taken in the WNBA Draft, with 26 chosen in the first round — the most of any school. If Edwards and Muhl are both selected, it will be the 16th time in 28 drafts that two UConn players were taken.
• The Huskies had 16 former players in the WNBA last season. Lou Lopez Senechal, who was chosen by Dallas with the No. 5 pick, didn’t play while she recovered from knee surgery, and Dorka Juhasz started 27 games for the Lynx after being taken in the second round with the No. 16 pick.
— Zac Boyer
Clingan Sent Off at Victory Parade
The Story: Donovan Clingan’s time at UConn ended with a championship and a parade as the Bristol native declared for the NBA Draft on Friday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Clingan remaining at UConn was always unlikely, but after a dominating performance in the NCAA Tournament, it was all but certain he would leave for the NBA.
• Clingan, who is 7-foot-2, averaged 13 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in just a shade under 23 minutes. Those are modest numbers, but when you extrapolate that over 36 minutes, he’s one of the most productive players in the country.
• His draft hype can’t go much higher as he’s being talked about as a top-10 pick — and there’s even some talk that he’s in consideration for the No. 1 pick. The highest a UConn player has ever been drafted was No. 2, when Emeka Okafor was taken in 2004 and Hasheem Thabeet was chosen in 2009.
• The Huskies have a hole in the middle and the natural in-house solution is Samson Johnson, who was effective off the bench. The Huskies also welcomed Michigan transfer Tarris Reed for a visit over the weekend. Harris, who is 6-foot-11, averaged nine points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the Wolverines this season.
WHAT ABOUT THE REST? We’re still waiting on Stephon Castle, Alex Karaban and Hassan Diarra to make their decisions known.
• Castle should be a lottery pick and no one really expects him to stay.
• Karaban, on the other hand, has a tough decision to make. He’s considered a second-round pick and could make his way into the first round if he has a series of strong workouts. He was noncommittal when asked about his future at the championship parade on Saturday and said he’s going to think about what to do. There’s no downside to exploring the NBA, which Tristen Newton did last year, and then returning to school if he chooses.
• Diarra is not considered an NBA prospect. He could come back for one more year and would likely start. The Big East’s Sixth Man of the Year didn’t indicate which way he was leaning and if he will decide to leave school to pursue a pro career.
THREE-PEAT? Dan Hurley, who has been on a media tour that has had him going from sports talk shows and podcasts to the “Today” show talking about his underwear and M&Ms, isn’t shy about promising the moon next year. He told the estimated 60,000 fans at the parade that UConn is going for a three-peat. Hurley isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and one thing he never does is lower expectations.
— John Silver
• Adama Sanogo became just the second rookie this season, behind the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama, to have at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in the same game when he had 22 points and 20 rebounds in the Bulls’ 129-127 win over the Wizards on Friday.
• The softball team moved into second place in the Big East with a 7-0 win over Creighton yesterday afternoon. The Huskies (22-19, 10-5 Big East) took the series from the Bluejays and were led by home runs from Lexi Hastings and Jana Sanden, while Hallie Siems pitched five scoreless innings.
• The baseball team received an all-time performance from Paul Tammaro, who set a school record with nine RBI, including a walk-off three-run home run for the Huskies yesterday in an 11-8 win over visiting St. John’s.
Top photo: Aaliyah Edwards shoots during the Huskies’ game against Louisville. (Courtesy of UConn athletics)
