Here’s where former NC State standout Elissa Cunane could be headed in the WNBA Draft
Former N.C. State center Elissa Cunane ended her basketball career as one of the best to ever put on the Wolfpack uniform. Monday night, she’ll find out what her next uniform will look like.
The 2022 WNBA Draft kicks off at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Cunane is one of 12 players invited to New York to participate in the first live draft since 2019. The Summerfield, N.C. native is projected to go anywhere from No. 5 (New York Liberty) to No. 11 (Las Vegas Aces).
In four years in Raleigh, the 6-foot-5 Cunane left her stamp on the program. She started 101 of the 125 games she played for the Wolfpack. She ranks sixth in school history in career points (1,855), seventh in double-doubles (34), fifth in rebounds (986), and is the school record-holder in made free throws (513).
A consensus All-American by the Associated Press in 2021-22, Cunane leaves Raleigh with a career average of 14.8 points per game and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the floor. Her senior season, she averaged 13.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, on 53.1 percent shooting (182-of-343). Cunane shot 83.5 percent from the line (116-of-139) and averaged 1.3 assists per game.
She earned second-team All-American honors from the AP and the USBWA. Cunane was a consensus first team All-ACC honoree for the third straight year. In March, she was named the ACC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player for the second straight season.
In New York she’ll join Shakira Austin (Ole Miss), Kierstan Bell (Florida Gulf Coast), Rae Burrell (Tennessee), Veronica Burton (Northwestern), Nia Clouden (Michigan State), Emily Engstler (Louisville), Destanni Henderson (South Carolina), Naz Hillmon (Michigan), Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), Nyara Sabally (Oregon) and NaLyssa Smith (Baylor) in the green room.
N.C. State has had 16 players chosen in the WNBA Draft, with four of those selections occurring in the first round.
The most recent Wolfpack draft selection was Kiara Leslie, who went No. 10 overall to the Washington Mystics in 2019.
Where do early projections have Cunane going?
CBSSports.com | No. 11 to Las Vegas Aces |
ESPN | No. 5 to New York Liberty |
Bleacher Report | No. 11 Las Vegas Aces |
Her Hoops Stats | No. 8 to Minnesota Lynx |
Winsidr.com | No. 6 to Indiana Fever |
