NEW YORK — LSU All-American guard Allison Hightower was the 15th overall selection in the 2010 WNBA Draft as she was chosen by the Connecticut Sun in the second round on Thursday at the NBA Entertainment Studios.
Hightower, who was also named to the USA Basketball Select Team, became the 15th LSU player selected in the WNBA Draft since the league’s inception in 1997. She was the first Lady Tiger taken since Sylvia Fowles, Erica White and Quianna Chaney went in 2008.
“To know I get to continue playing basketball and to have my family here with me, this is a moment I’ll always cherish,” Hightower said. “It’s been a great experience. Everybody here dreamed about this moment for the longest time. I just feel blessed.”
Hightower will be the first player to ever don a Connecticut Sun jersey. She joins a draft class that included the Sun’s No. 1 overall pick, Tina Charles from Connecticut and Nebraska’s Kelsey Griffin. Both Hightower and Griffin were finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and the two played against each other last December when LSU was defeated by the Huskers in Lincoln.
“I am really excited for Allison and for LSU continuing its legacy in the WNBA Draft,” said LSU head coach Van Chancellor, who was a four-time WNBA champion coach with the Houston Comets. “I’m so pleased for Allison to go to such quality team in Connecticut. Mike (Thibault) is one of the premier coaches in women’s basketball. She is joining a young team that has a bright future.
“There’s no question, Allison’s best days are ahead of her. She’s such a hard worker, listener and a joy to coach. She’s going to have an outstanding WNBA career. We are proud of what she did at LSU and we look forward to watching her professional career.”
Hightower posted 18.2 points per game as a senior en route to earning State Farm Coaches’ Honorable Mention All-America honors for the second straight season. She was also a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and she was a Lowe’s Senior CLASS Second-Team All-America selection.
Hightower was LSU’s most valuable player the past two seasons, leading the Lady Tigers to back-to-back NCAA tournament second round appearances. She was a member of Final Four teams as a freshman and sophomore and she won 101 games during her career.
She finished as the 13th all-time leading scorer in LSU history with 1,509 points. She ranked ranked sixth in blocked shots with 89, seventh in career 3-point field goals with 108 and fourth in games played with 136.
Connecticut will play three preseason games beginning on May 4 against Atlanta. The Sun officially open the 2010 season on Saturday, May 15 versus Chicago at 2:30 p.m. CST. Three Connecticut contests are slated for national ESPN2 broadcasts: July 6 at San Antonio, July 20 vs. New York and August 5 at Seattle.
2010 WNBA Draft
First Round
1 Connecticut Sun – Tina Charles (Connecticut)
2 Minnesota Lynx – Monica Wright (Virginia)
3 Minnesota Lynx – Kelsey Griffin (traded to CT) (Nebraska)
4 Chicago Sky – Epiphanny Prince (Botas/Rutgers)
5 San Antonio Silver Stars – Jayne Appel (Stanford)
6 Washington Mystics – Jacinta Monroe (Florida St.)
7 Connecticut Sun – Danielle McCray (Kansas)
8 Los Angeles Sparks – Andrea Riley (Oklahoma St.)
9 Atlanta Dream – Chanel Mokango (Mississippi St.)
10 Seattle Storm – Alison Lacey (Iowa St.)
11 Indiana Fever – Jene Morris (San Diego)
12 Los Angeles Sparks – Bianca Thomas (Ole Miss)
Second Round
13 New York Liberty – Kalana Greene Connecticut
14 Washington Mystics – Jenna Smith (Illinois)
15 Connecticut Sun – Allison Hightower (LSU)
16 New York Liberty – Ashley Houts (Georgia)
17 San Antonio Silver Stars – Alysha Clark (Middle Tennessee)
18 Washington Mystics – Shanavia Dowdell (Louisiana Tech_
19 Tulsa Shock – Amanda Thompson (Oklahoma)
20 Los Angeles Sparks – Angel Robinson (Georgia)
21 Atlanta Dream – Brigitte Ardossi (Georgia Tech)
22 Seattle Storm – Tanisha Smith (Texas A&M)
23 Indiana Fever – Armelie Lumanu (Mississippi State)
24 Phoenix Mercury – Tyra Grant (Penn State)
2010 WNBA DRAFT – ROUND 3
25 New York Liberty – Cory Montgomery (Nebraska)
26 Minnesota Lynx – Gabriela Marginean (Drexel)
27 Connecticut Sun – Johannah Leedham (Franklin Pierce)
28 Chicago Sky – Abi Olajuwon (Oklahoma)
29 San Antonio Silver Stars – Alexis Rack (Mississippi State)
30 Washington Mystics – Alexis Gray-Lawson (California)
31 Tulsa Shock – Vivian Frieson (Gonzaga)
32 Los Angeles Sparks – Rashidat Junaid (Rutgers)
33 Atlanta Dream – Brittainey Raven (Texas)
34 Seattle Storm – Tijana Krivacevic (Hungary)
35 Indiana Fever – Joy Cheek (Duke)
36 Phoenix Mercury – Nyeshia Stevenson (Oklahoma)