Dallas Wings take Charli Collier, Awak Kuier with first two picks in 2021 WNBA draft

Dallas Wings chose Charli Collier, the Texas player, with choice no. 1 in the 2021 WNBA draft on Thursday.

Collier is the first player in the Longhorns to be the best WNBA voter and the second in the Big 12, after Baylor center Brittney Griner in 2013.

Wings took another position player, Awak Kuier from Finland, with choice no. 2. Kuier of 6 meters and 5 is the seventh international player who has not played college basketball in the USA who was selected in the top five of a WNBA draft.

For the second consecutive season, the three-round draft is virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who announced last season’s home election, was in an ESPN studio this year.

The 6-foot-5 necklace averaged 19 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.1% from the field for the 21-10 Longhorns, who advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. Collier is a junior eligible for the project, as he turns 22 this calendar year.

He will play for a professional team in his native Texas; she is from Mont Belvieu, in the greater Houston area.

“My heart is pounding now because I’ve worked hard for it,” Collier told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “This is a game I love, I deserve to be here and I’m built for it. This is my moment.”

Collier is the third true junior to be No. 1 after Notre Dame protects Jewell Loyd in 2015 and Jackie Young in 2019. Candace Parker of Tennessee was a junior in eligibility when she was No. 1 in 2008, but had been in school for four years. , after wearing red what would have been her first season in 2004-05.

Kuier, 19, plays professionally for Ragusa in Italy, where he averaged 8.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this season. She will not turn 20 until August.

Kuier was born in Cairo after her parents fled war-torn South Sudan. When she was 2, her family immigrated to Finland. She becomes the first Finnish player in WNBA history.

Dallas went 8-14 and missed the playoffs in ninth place in last year’s condensed season in Bradenton, Florida. Like the rest of the WNBA teams, Wings will return to their home market this season, playing at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Vickie Johnson is in her first season as Wings coach; previously coached in San Antonio and played 13 seasons in the WNBA.

In Collier and Kuier, Johnson and Wings get two players with large size, scoring ability and recovery. Wings has three first-round picks and four of the top 13, while the Los Angeles Sparks have two in the first round and five overall.

Atlanta Dream took the star of NCAA tournament, Aari McDonald, in 3rd place. The guard led Arizona to the national championship game and becomes the first Wildcat player to participate in the first round of the WNBA draft.