2009 WNBA draft

The 2009 WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 9, 2009. The first round was shown on ESPN2 (in HD for the first time ever) at 3:00pm ET, while the second and third rounds were shown on ESPNU and NBA TV at 4:00pm.

2009 WNBA draft
General information
Sport	Basketball
Date(s)	December 8, 2008 – April 9, 2009
Location	Secaucus, New Jersey
Network(s)	ESPN2, NBATV, ESPNU
Overview
League	WNBA
Merging teams	Houston Comets (folded in 2008)
First selection	Angel McCoughtry Atlanta Dream
← 2008 2010 →

Additionally, on December 8, 2008, the WNBA held a dispersal draft to re-assign players from the Houston Comets who folded at the end of 2008 WNBA season.^[1][2]

Draft lottery

A lottery was held on December 9, 2008. The Atlanta Dream received the first overall selection of upcoming 2009 draft. The Washington Mystics received the number two selection. The Chicago Sky came up with the third overall selection, followed by the Minnesota Lynx at four, the Phoenix Mercury at number five. For the first time in WNBA history, the lottery balls were chosen exactly according to odds. Some of the top draftees were Angel McCoughtry, Marissa Coleman, Kristi Toliver, and Renee Montgomery.

Transactions

• The Washington Mystics received the first-round pick from the Los Angeles Sparks.
• The Atlanta Dream received the first-round pick from the San Antonio Silver Stars.
• The San Antonio Silver Stars received the second-round pick from the Atlanta Dream.
• The Connecticut Sun and the Minnesota Lynx had rights to swap second-round picks.
• The Washington Mystics received the second-round pick from the Detroit Shock.
• The Atlanta Dream received the second-round pick from the Seattle Storm.
• The Phoenix Mercury received the third-round pick from the New York Liberty.
• The Minnesota Lynx received the first-round and second-round pick from the Washington Mystics
• The Detroit Shock received the second-round pick from the Atlanta Dream.

Key

!	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
^	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
*	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-WNBA Team
+	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
#	Denotes player who never played in the WNBA regular season or playoffs
Bold	Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year

Draft

Round 1

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
1	Angel McCoughtry *	United States	Atlanta Dream	Louisville
2	Marissa Coleman +		Washington Mystics	Maryland
3	Kristi Toliver *		Chicago Sky
4	Renee Montgomery +		Minnesota Lynx	Connecticut
5	DeWanna Bonner *		Phoenix Mercury	Auburn
6	Briann January +		Indiana Fever	Arizona State
7	Courtney Paris		Sacramento Monarchs	Oklahoma
8	Kia Vaughn		New York Liberty	Rutgers
9	Quanitra Hollingsworth		Minnesota Lynx (from Los Angeles, via Washington)	VCU
10	Chante Black		Connecticut Sun	Duke
11	Shavonte Zellous +		Detroit Shock	Pittsburgh
12	Ashley Walker		Seattle Storm	California
13	Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton		Los Angeles Sparks (from San Antonio, via Atlanta)[a]	Purdue

Round 2

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
14	Megan Frazee	United States	San Antonio Silver Stars (from Atlanta)[a]	Liberty
15	Rashanda McCants		Minnesota Lynx (from Washington)	North Carolina
16	Danielle Gant #		Chicago Sky	Texas A&M
17	Lyndra Littles #		Connecticut Sun (from Minnesota)	Virginia
18	Britany Miller		Detroit Shock (from Phoenix, via Atlanta)	Florida State
19	Christina Wirth		Indiana Fever	Vanderbilt
20	Whitney Boddie		Sacramento Monarchs	Auburn
21	Abby Waner #		New York Liberty	Duke
22	Ashley Paris #		Los Angeles Sparks	Oklahoma
23	Camille LeNoir #		Washington Mystics (from Connecticut, via Minnesota)	USC
24	Jelena Milovanović	Serbia	Washington Mystics (from Detroit)	MKB Euroleasing Sopron (Hungary)
25	Shalee Lehning	United States	Atlanta Dream (from Seattle)	Kansas State
26	Sonja Petrović	Serbia	San Antonio Silver Stars	Spartak Moscow Region (Russia)

Round 3

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
27	Jessica Morrow #	United States	Atlanta Dream	Baylor
28	Josephine Owino #	Kenya	Washington Mystics	Union
29	Jenifer Risper #	United States	Chicago Sky	Vanderbilt
30	Emily Fox #		Minnesota Lynx	Minnesota
31	Sha Brooks #		Phoenix Mercury	Florida
32	Danielle Campbell #		Indiana Fever	Purdue
33	Morgan Warburton #		Sacramento Monarchs	Utah
34	Jessica Adair		Phoenix Mercury (from New York)	George Washington
35	Britney Jordan #		Los Angeles Sparks	Texas A&M–Commerce
36	Alba Torrens #	Spain	Connecticut Sun	Real Club Celta Indepo (Spain)
37	Tanae Davis-Cain	United States	Detroit Shock	Florida State
38	Mara Freshour #		Seattle Storm
39	Candyce Bingham #		San Antonio Silver Stars	Louisville

Footnotes

1. April 9, 2008: San Antonio to Atlanta^[3]
   • San Antonio acquired Ann Wauters, Morenike Atunrase, and a 2009 second round draft pick
   • Atlanta acquired Camille Little, Chioma Nnamaka, and a 2009 first round draft pick

External links

• Lynx trade Harding, the 23rd overall in 2009, and 2010 second round pick to the Mystics for the 9th and 15th overall picks in 2009
• 2009 WNBA Draft Board

See also

• List of first overall WNBA draft picks

References

1. "2008 Houston Comets Dispersal Draft Analysis". WNBA. December 8, 2008.
2. "Defunct Houston Comets Hold Dispersal Draft". NPR. December 9, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
3. "San Antonio Acquires Ann Wauters, Morenike Atunrase In Draft Day Trade With Atlanta". WNBA. Retrieved June 28, 2025.

• "All-Time WNBA draft history". WNBA. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2008.