SECAUCUS, N.J. — Marie Ferdinand became the highest drafted LSU player ever to go in the WNBA Draft on Friday as she was taken by the in the first round by the Utah Starzz with the eighth overall selection.
“I am very excited about being drafted this high in the draft,” said Ferdinand. “I have worked very hard since coming to LSU to get to this point and I think I will bring a lot to the league. It is a great opportunity for me to go to Utah.”
Fellow senior April Brown had to wait a little longer to be taken as she was taken in the fourth round, 51st overall, by the Indiana Fever.
“I was confident that I would be taken before the day was out,” said Brown, who led LSU in three-point shooting this year at 35.4 percent. “I felt like I had a good pre-draft workout at the camp and that would help me get picked.”
This season, Ferdinand established herself as one of the top players in the nation and was just the fourth player in LSU history to earn Kodak All-America honors and second-team All-America honors by the Associated Press. She also garnered first-team All-SEC honors by the coaches (unanimous) and the AP. Ferdinand was a Naismith Finalist and a finalist for the Shooting Guard of the Year award presented by ESPN the Magazine this year.
Ferdinand, 22, became one of only three players in LSU history to record at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals in a career while starting 93 consecutive games to end her career and scoring in double figures in 35 straight. She scored 20 points or more on 18 occasions in her senior season and broke the 30-point plateau three times, including a career-high 34 at SMU and at Purdue.
Ferdinand led LSU this season in scoring (21.1 points per game), assists (3.5), steals (2.5) and minutes (34.7). She completed her four-year career at LSU as the Lady Tigers’ all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament history.
Brown ranked second on LSU’s team with 11.3 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field. She ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in three-point percentage and finished her Lady Tiger career with more three-pointers in NCAA Tournament play (14) than any other player in LSU history.
Ferdinand and Brown join former Lady Tigers Katrina Hibbert, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2000 by the Seattle Storm, and Elaine Powell, who was taken in the fourth round in 1999 by the Orlando Miracle, as the only WNBA draft picks from LSU. The WNBA begins its fifth season this summer.
Lauren Jackson, a 6-5 center from Australia, was picked first overall in the draft.
Jackson is the daughter of former LSU Lady Tiger All-American Maree Jackson, who played under late head coach Jinks Coleman for two seasons from 1976-78.
Maree Jackson scored 1,852 points to rank fourth on the school’s all-time list and led the Lady Tigers to the 1976-77 AIAW championship game by averaging 27.7 points per game.
Considered by ESPN analysts as one of the “Knockout Nine” selections, Ferdinand was at the NBA Entertainment Studio at Secaucus, N.J., for the draft along with LSU head coach Sue Gunter and five members of her family.
| 2001 WNBA Draft — First Round | ||||
| Team | Name | Pos. | School/Team | |
| 1. | Seattle | Lauren Jackson | F/C | Australia |
| 2. | Charlotte | Kelly Miller | G | Georgia |
| 3. | Indiana | Tamika Catchings | F | Tennessee |
| 4. | Portland | Jackie Stiles | G | SW Mo. St. |
| 5. | Miami | Ruth Riley | C | Notre Dame |
| 6. | Detroit | Deanna Nolan | G/F | Georgia |
| 7. | Minnesota | Svetlana Abrosimova | G/F | Connecticut |
| 8. | Utah | Marie Ferdinand | G | LSU |
| 9. | Washington | Co-Co Miller | G | Georgia |
| 10. | Orlando | Katie Douglas | G/F | Purdue |
| 11. | Cleveland | Penny Taylor | F | Australia |
| 12. | Portland | LaQuanda Barksdale | G/F | North Carolina |
| 13. | Phoenix | Kristen Veal | G | Australia |
| 14. | Indiana | Kelly Schumacker | F/C | Connecticut |
| 15. | Houston | Amanda Lassiter | F | Missouri |
| 16. | Los Angeles | Camille Cooper | C | Purdue |
| 2001 WNBA Draft — Second Round | ||||
| Team | Name | Pos. | School/Team | |
| 17. | Seattle | Semeka Randall | G | Tennessee |
| 18. | Charlotte | Tammy Sutton-Brown | C | Rutgers |
| 19. | Indiana | Niele Ivey | G | Notre Dame |
| 20. | Portland | Jenny Mowe | C | Oregon |
| 21. | Miami | Georgia Schweitzer | G/F | Duke |
| 22. | Detroit | Jae Kingi | G | Australia |
| 23. | Minnesota | Erin Buescher | G | Master’s College |
| 24. | Utah | Michaela Pavlickova | F | Denver |
| 25. | Washington | Tamara Stocks | F/C | Florida |
| 26. | Orlando | Brooke Wyckoff | F | Florida State |
| 27. | Cleveland | Jaynetta Saunders | F | Texas A&M |
| 28. | Minnesota | Janell Burse | C | Tulane |
| 29. | Phoenix | Ilona Korstine | Russia | |
| 30. | Sacramento | Jackie Moore | C | Long Beach St. |
| 31. | Houston | Tynesha Lewis | G/F | N.C. State |
| 32. | Los Angeles | Nicole Levandusky | G | Xavier (Ohio) |
| 2001 WNBA Draft — Third Round | ||||
| Team | Name | Pos. | School/Team | |
| 33. | Houston | ShaRae Mansfield | F | W. Kentucky |
| 34. | Charlotte | Jennifer Phillips | F | Xavier |
| 35. | Indiana | Marlena Williams | F | Missouri |
| 36. | Portland | Rasheeda Clark | G | Pepperdine |
| 37. | Miami | Levys Torres | C | Florida State |
| 38. | Detroit | Svetlana Volnaya | G | Virginia |
| 39. | Minnesota | Tombi Bell | G | Florida |
| 40. | Utah | Shea Ralph | F | Connecticut |
| 41. | Washington | Jamie Lewis | G | Ohio State |
| 42. | Orlando | Jaclyn Johnson | F | Kansas |
| 43. | Cleveland | Angelina Wolvert | F/C | Oregon |
| 44. | Washington | Yelena Karpova | F | Russia |
| 45. | Phoenix | Tere Williams | F | Virginia Tech |
| 46. | Sacramento | Maren Walseth | F | Penn State |
| 47. | Houston | Shala Crawford | C | Life |
| 48. | Los Angeles | Kelley Siemon | F | Notre Dame |
| 2001 WNBA Draft — Fourth Round | ||||
| Team | Name | Pos. | School/Team | |
| 49. | Seattle | Juana Brown | G | North Carolina |
| 50. | Charlotte | Reshea Bristol | G | Arizona |
| 51. | Indiana | April Brown | F | LSU |
| 52. | Portland | Tasha Pointer | G | Rutgers |
| 53. | Phoenix | Carolyn Moos | C | Stanford |
| 54. | Detroit | Kelly Santos | C | Brazil |
| 55. | Minnesota | Megan Taylor | G/F | Iowa State |
| 56. | Utah | Cara Consuegra | G | Iowa |
| 57. | New York | Taru Tuukkanen | F/C | Xavier |
| 58. | Orlando | Anne Thorius | G | Michigan |
| 59. | Cleveland | Erin Batth | F/C | Clemson |
| 60. | New York | Tara Mitchem | G | SW Mo. St. |
| 61. | Phoenix | Megan Franza | G | Washington |
| 62. | Sacramento | Katie Smroka-Duffy | G | Georgetown |
| 63. | Houston | Kristen Clement | G | Tennessee |
| 64. | Los Angeles | Beth Record | G/F | Syracuse |