NEW YORK — Roll out the orange carpet: The 2022 WNBA draft will look a little more normal this year.
Members of this year’s class will get to hear names called live and in person on April 11 from Spring Studios in TriBeCa, the league announced Thursday afternoon. It will be the first time the draft will be held in person since 2019 (before the coronavirus pandemic moved the show virtual). That year, the Liberty drafted Asia Durr at No. 2 overall.
Previous in-person drafts held in the City were at Nike HQ (2018-19) and at Samsung 837 (2016).
The draft will also air live on ESPN at 7 p.m. that night.
“Coming off of an incredibly successful 2021 season,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s statement started, “and in the wake of our recent announcement regarding the largest-ever capital raise for a women’s sports property, the WNBA continues to build momentum for the future of the league. And what better way to ramp up the momentum for the tip-off of our 26th season, than with WNBA draft 2022.”
The Washington Mystics secured the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft in the league’s draft lottery, held in December. The Liberty, under the newly-minted, championship-winning head coach Sandy Brondello, have picks 5 and 29.
Though she and GM Jonathan Kolb have not let on who they’re eyeing just yet, some of the top prospects for this class could include Kentucky guard Rhyne Howard, Baylor forward NaLyssa Smith, Ole Miss center/forward Shakira Austin, South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson and Tennessee guard/forward Rae Burrell.
The Libs aren’t so much in the market for a bevvy of rookies, as they had during the hard reset in 2020, but based on Brondello’s track record, any of these prospects would be in good hands for their early development in the league.
Back in 2020, when the pandemic shut down sports and threw into question the safety of running of in-person events, the WNBA became the first major professional sports league in the country to host its draft fully remote. It was a new experience for all, but also represented a new future for the Liberty, who’s No. 1 pick, Sabrina Ionescu, headlined the night.
Ionescu’s draft class was followed by the Liberty picking Michaela Onyenwere at No. 6 in 2021. Onyenwere went on to runaway with Rookie of the Year honors last season.
The Liberty have come a long way since Ionescu was drafted two years ago. And so has the sports world’s navigation of the ever evolving pandemic.
WNBA training camp begins later in April with the regular season tipping off on May 6.
