– ESPN to Televise Draft Live from New York on Monday, April 10 from 7-9 p.m. ET – 

– Empire State Building Lighting Ceremony to Be Followed by Iconic WNBA “Orange Carpet” Event and Draft at Acclaimed Spring Studios New York –

– Indiana Fever to Select First and Minnesota Lynx to Pick Second –

– ESPN2 to Broadcast WNBA Draft Preview Show on Saturday, April 8 at 11:30 a.m. ET –

NEW YORK, April 7, 2023 – South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston, Maryland guard Diamond Miller and Villanova forward Maddy Siegrist headline the list of 15 prospects who will attend WNBA Draft 2023 presented by State Farm^® on Monday, April 10.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will announce the first-round draft picks live on ESPN, with exclusive coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The draft will also be available live on the ESPN App.

In preparation for the WNBA Draft 2023 presented by State Farm, ESPN2 will broadcast the WNBA Draft Preview Show on Saturday, April 8 (11:30 a.m. ET and re-airing on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. ET). LaChina Robinson will host the 30-minute special with analyst Rebecca Lobo. Together they will assess the top draft prospects and discuss team needs.

The WNBA Draft presented by State Farm will take place at the acclaimed Spring Studios, located in the Tribeca section of New York. Home to such iconic events as Fashion Week and the Tribeca Film Festival, Spring Studios will host the draft for the second straight year.

The other prospects who will be in attendance are forward Laeticia Amihere (South Carolina), guard Brea Beal (South Carolina), guard Grace Berger (Indiana), guard Zia Cooke (South Carolina), guard Jordan Horston (Tennessee), guard/forward Ashley Joens (Iowa State), guard/forward Haley Jones (Stanford), forward Dorka Juhász (Connecticut), guard/forward Lou Lopez Sénéchal (Connecticut), guard Taylor Mikesell (Ohio State), guard Alexis Morris (LSU), and forward/center Stephanie Soares (Iowa State).

The Indiana Fever hold the top pick in the draft by virtue of winning the WNBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm last November. Indiana, which also owns the No. 7 selection in the first round, last year became the first team in WNBA history to make four picks in the first round. The Minnesota Lynx will select second. The Dallas Wings have the third selection, followed by the Washington Mystics at No. 4.

The formal tip-off of the draft night festivities will take place when the invited prospects showcase their personalities and unique fashion styles on the WNBA’s iconic “Orange Carpet.”. Earlier that day, the prospects will visit the famed Empire State Building for a lighting ceremony to celebrate the 2023 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm.

WNBA.com’s “Draft Central” will offer fans comprehensive coverage that includes an interactive Draft Board, prospect profiles with insights powered by SAP, in-depth features on the top prospects and coverage of all draft events. Content across @WNBA channels will feature the unique stories and personalities of the prospects via Instagram and TikTok, a Twitter Spaces Mock Draft Debate and cross-platform live coverage that includes the “Orange Carpet.”

Here is a closer look at the prospects who will be attending WNBA Draft 2023 presented by State Farm.

Laeticia Amihere (South Carolina): A 6-4 forward from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Amihere overcame knee injuries in high school to excel at South Carolina and with the Canadian National Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 FIBA World Cup. She helped the Gamecocks reach three consecutive NCAA Final Fours, winning the national championship in the 2021-22 season. Amihere plays all five positions and has been described by Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley as the most versatile player she has coached at South Carolina.

Brea Beal (South Carolina): A finalist for the 2022-23 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award, Beal regularly defends an opponent’s best perimeter player. The 6-1 guard helped propel South Carolina to three SEC titles and three straight NCAA Final Fours, winning a national championship in 2022. A native of Rock Island, Ill., Beal started all but one game over her four-year career with the Gamecocks. In the 2022-23 season, she increased her three-point field goal percentage to 38.0, up from 24.0 a year ago.

Grace Berger (Indiana): The 6-foot guard is a four-time All-Big Ten First Team selection and the all-time winningest player at Indiana with 118 victories over five seasons. A Louisville, Ky., native, Berger ranks seventh in school history in points (1,841 points) and second in assists (573). She averaged more than 14.0 points per game over her last four seasons at IU. In 2022-23, she helped Indiana to its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as the team’s No. 2 scorer and assists leader.

Aliyah Boston (South Carolina): Boston is a three-time AP All-America First Team selection, the consensus 2021-22 National Player of the Year and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons. A 6-5 forward/center from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, she led South Carolina to three consecutive Final Four appearances and the 2021-22 national championship. In the 2022-23 season, she won the Lisa Leslie Award as the nation’s top center for the fourth straight year, earned her second consecutive SEC Player of the Year honor and collected her fourth SEC Defensive Player of the Year award in a row.

Zia Cooke (South Carolina): Cooke averaged a team-high 15.1 points per game in the 2022-23 season as she helped lead the Gamecocks to a third consecutive NCAA Final Four and a 36-1 record. The 5-9 native of Toledo, Ohio, was also an AP All-America Third Team selection, the winner of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation’s best shooting guard and a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award as the nation’s best overall guard. The 2021-22 national champion was named to the All-SEC Team three times, including First Team honors in the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons.

Jordan Horston (Tennessee): The 6-2 guard was an AP All-America Honorable Mention selection in each of the last two seasons. Horston ranks No. 1 among true guards in Tennessee history with 21 double-doubles, including eight in the 2022-23 season. She joins Alexis Hornbuckle as the only Lady Vols players to record at least 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists in a career. The Dallas native paced Tennessee in assists in each of her four seasons.

Ashley Joens (Iowa State): Joens averaged at least 20.0 points per game in each of the last four seasons and led the Big 12 in scoring three times. The 6-1 guard/forward capped her career as the 2022-23 Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading the Cyclones to the conference title. The Iowa City, Iowa, native won the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award as the nation’s best small forward in each of the last three seasons. A four-time unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection, Joens earned AP All-America Third Team honors in 2022-23. She finished her career as Iowa State’s all-time leader in points (3,040), scoring average (19.4), rebounds (1,391) and three-pointers made (344).

Haley Jones (Stanford): The 6-1 guard/forward helped Stanford win one national championship, three Pac-12 regular-season titles and two Pac-12 Tournament crowns. Jones was an AP All-America Team selection and a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award as the nation’s best small forward in each of the last three seasons. A native of Santa Cruz, Calif., she was a finalist for the 2021-22 Naismith Trophy as the National Player of Year. Jones was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2021 Final Four after averaging 20.5 points and 6.0 rebounds as the Cardinal defeated South Carolina in the national semifinals and Arizona in the national championship game.

Dorka Juhász (Connecticut): A 6-5 forward from Pécs, Hungary, Juhász overcame an early-season thumb injury to become a semifinalist for the Lisa Leslie Award as the nation’s best center and an All-Big East First Team selection. Juhász played her final two seasons at Connecticut after transferring from Ohio State, where she earned All-Big Ten First Team honors twice in three seasons. She averaged 14.5 points per game and ranked second in the Big East with 9.9 rebounds per game in the 2022-23 season.

Lou Lopez Sénéchal (Connecticut): Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and raised in Grenoble, France, the 6-1 guard/forward earned 2022-23 All-Big East First Team honors in her one season at Connecticut after four standout seasons at Fairfield. She averaged 15.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and ranked ninth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (44.0) for the Huskies. At Fairfield, she was the 2021-22 Metro Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a three-time All-MAAC First Team selection.

Taylor Mikesell (Ohio State): A 5-11 guard, Mikesell capped her five-year college career with two seasons at Ohio State, earning All-Big Ten First Team honors in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and ranking in the top five in the nation in three-pointers made per game both seasons. The Massillon, Ohio, native averaged 17.2 points per game in the 2022-23 season as Ohio State reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years. Mikesell was a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation’s best shooting guard in 2021-22 and a semifinalist in 2022-23.

Diamond Miller (Maryland): Miller was a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation’s best shooting guard and was on the ballot for the John R. Wooden Award as the National Player of the Year in the 2022-23 season. She ranked third in the Big Ten in scoring (19.6 ppg). The 6-3 native of Somerset, N.J, was named to the All-Big Ten First Team twice and the Second Team once.

Alexis Morris (LSU): Morris, who helped lead LSU to the 2022-23 National Championship, paced the Tigers in assists (4.1 apg) this season and ranked second on the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) behind Angel Reese. A 5-6 guard, Morris was a First Team All-SEC choice, a semifinalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation’s best point guard and was selected to the Greenville Regional 2 All-Tournament Team. The Beaumont, Texas native registered a career-high 31 points vs. Tennessee on Jan. 30, 2023, and scored 21 points in LSU’s win over Iowa in the National Championship Game.

Maddy Siegrist (Villanova): The 6-2 forward led the nation in scoring in 2022-23 (29.2 ppg) after ranking second in 2021-22 (25.3 ppg). She scored a career-high 50 points against Seton Hall on Feb. 11. A native of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Siegrist was an AP and USBWA All-America First Team selection and the Big East Player of the Year in her final collegiate season. Siegrist also won the 2022-23 Katrina McClain Award as the nation’s top power forward and was a finalist for both the Naismith Award and Wade Trophy as the National Player of the Year. She won the Big East scoring title three times, led the conference in rebounding in the 2020-21 season and finished her career with averages of 24.3 points and 9.3 rebounds.

Stephanie Soares (Iowa State): The 6-6 forward/center averaged 14.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in 13 games in the 2022-23 season before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in January. Prior to transferring to Iowa State, Soares was a two-time NAIA National Player of the Year and three-time First Team NAIA All-America selection for The Master’s University. A native of Brazil who played high school basketball in Deming, Wash., Soares was a member of Brazil’s gold-medal-winning team at the 2022 FIBA South American Women’s Championship. Her mother, Susan (Anderson) Soares, was a Gatorade High School National Player of the Year before helping Texas make four appearances in the NCAA Elite Eight.

Below summarizes the players invited to attend WNBA Draft 2023 presented by State Farm^®.

About State Farm^®
For 100 years, the mission of State Farm has been and continues to be to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its more than 19,400 agents and approximately 53,400 employees serve over 87 million policies and accounts – which includes auto, fire, life, health, commercial policies and financial services accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 42 on the 2022 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com. ​

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