Locked on WBB: WNBA draft prospects rising and falling

The latest episode of Locked on Women’s Basketball is a holiday special! Co-hosts Em Adler and Joshua Welch discuss which WNBA draft prospects have made Santa’s nice list by increasing their draft stock and made the naughty list by decreasing their stock.

One player who Em puts on their nice list is Ohio State senior guard Jacy Sheldon. Sheldon was averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 steals, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game through five games before suffering a leg injury. Here’s Em’s take on what Sheldon has proven this season to WNBA talent evaluators:

“She was a pretty terrible defender last year, but the tools were there, the instincts were there in terms of being a good defender. And the steals numbers to start the year, I mean, come on. … I think she’s really proven that she has the tools and she uses them when she needs to. I’m even more confident right now that she can be and probably will be a two-way impact player in the [WNBA] as a lottery pick. And I mean, the sky’s the limit.”

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Joshua has been impressed with Michigan fifth-year guard Leigha Brown this season. Through 11 games, Brown is averaging 14.9 points, 5.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 49.1% from the field. Here’s Joshua’s take:

“She makes me think of [Indiana Fever forward] Emily Engstler in a guard shape. It’s just someone that, if you’re playing against them, you hate them succeeding; they drive you nuts with their emotion they put into the game. And she’s just the Swiss Army knife in how she’s able to contribute. I love her passing game. I want to see more of her 3-point shooting … but if she plays like she has at times in big games [in] non-conference play, she could potentially put herself as a late first-rounder.”

Make sure to subscribe to the Locked on Women’s Basketball podcast to learn even more about the 2023 WNBA Draft, women’s college basketball and much more!

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