As with any player drafted to play professional basketball, Seattle Storm first round pick Jasmine Thomas is excited about the possibility of playing for the WNBA champs and learning from Sue Bird.
"Being selected by the Storm is a dream come true," said Jasmine Thomas in a Storm release. "Sharing this experience with my family and coaches has been amazing and I am ready to do whatever it takes to make the team. I also look forward to learning from Seattle’s great players, including Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Swin Cash."
However, even though the Storm were pleasantly surprised to find Thomas at that spot, making the team will be a tall order when considering all those great players they already have. And that might be even more difficult for second round pick Ify Ibekwe, who was listed on Swish Appeal's mock draft as a first round pick possibility for the Storm.
STORM: Storm Happy to Add Thomas, Two Others
"We talked about Ify being a possibility even at No. 12, so it was nice to get somebody we considered at that spot later on in the draft," Agler said. "Krystal gives us some size in training camp. It will be interesting to see her come in and compete for a spot."
Ibekwe had an accomplished career at Arizona, including a Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year award, as described in a Storm release.
She was twice named the Pac-10 Player of the Week during the regular season. For postseason awards, she was named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, All-Pac-10 and a member of the Pac-10 All-Defensive team. In the awards given out by the Pac-10 media, Ibekwe was named All-Pac-10 and a member of the All-Pac-10 Defensive Team.
Ibekwe ended her collegiate career as the only player in Arizona history to record 1,000-plus points and 1,000-plus rebounds and the only player to average a career double-double (14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds). She is Arizona's career leader in rebounds with 1,194 and career leader in double-doubles with 55.