WNBA - Dantas, Dabo among four internationals drafted

BRISTOL (WNBA/Olympics) - Brazil's Damiris Dantas and Astan Dabo of Mali, two players who could square off in the 2012 London Olympics, were two of four international players selected in Monday’s WNBA Draft.

American Nnemkadi Ogwumike - a member of the All-Tournament Team at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women - was the top overall pick by the Los Angeles Sparks.

Dabo, who will line out for Mali at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournament (OQT) for Women, was chosen by the Connecticut Sun with the ninth overall selection.

Dantas was chosen three picks later to close the first round by the reigning WNBA champions Minnesota Lynx.

Nineteen-year-old Dabo, who like Ogwumike played at the U19 Women in Thailand back in 2009, impressed WNBA officials with her size.

“We’re just kind of betting down the road to see if somebody with size can come in and help our team,” Sun head coach Mike Thibault said.

“Dabo is 6 foot 8 inches (2.04m). She is moving up to the French top division next year. She is not going to come this summer. She will come in a year or two…We don’t know how it is going to turn out, but it has a huge upside if it works.

“We’re talking about posts in our league getting bigger and bigger, they’re going to get bigger next year, so to take a chance on a 19-year-old player who is 6'8" and has gotten better each of the last three years was I thought a good gamble for us.”

Meanwhile, Dantas boasts some impressive credentials of her own.

She was the MVP at last summer's FIBA U19 World Championship for Women in Chile where she led all players in scoring and rebounding and willed Brazil to a bronze medal.

The 1.92m centre then helped Brazil win the FIBA Americas Championship for Women to qualify automatically for the London Games.

The Minnesota Lynx also selected another player from the U19 Women, using their second round pick by grabbing Slovenian Nika Baric.
 
Neither Dantas nor Baric are expected to play for the Lynx this season or in the immediate future.

The Sparks used the 13th pick - the first selection of the second round - on Farhiya Abdi, a 19-year-old forward who is playing for EuroLeague Women club Frisco Sika Brno. She became the first Swedish player to be drafted in the WNBA.

It came as no surprise that Ogwumike, who guided the USA to gold in Thailand three years ago, was the first pick in the 2012 draft.

The 21-year-old forward carried Stanford to four Final Four appearances during her college career in northern California, including a loss to eventual champions Baylor earlier this month.

The Atlanta Dream selected French centre Isabelle Yacoubou in the third round, but she was later declared ineligible because she was too old.

WNBA rules stipulate that international players can only be drafted in the year year in which they turn 20. Yacoubou will celebrate her 26th birthday on Saturday.

However, the Dream can still sign her as a free agent and have indicated they will do everything in their power to do so.

FIBA