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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: WNBA Draft Recap

We had a damn good group of a starting 5

NCAA Womens Basketball: Virginia at Notre Dame Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Yup, they all went in the first two rounds.

Last night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball starting 5 from this past season all were eligible to be drafted in the WNBA Draft. Jackie Young was the only player of the 5 that could’ve stayed for one more year, but she chose to declare for the draft. We now can see why that was the case.

In the draft, all five of the starters were drafted. The whole lineup of Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale, Brianna Turner, Jess Shepard, and Marina Mabrey were actually so good and so talented, that they all were drafted in the TOP 20. Insane.

Jackie Young

Jackie was drafted #1 overall to the Las Vegas Aces. She joins Jewell Loyd as the only Irish players to be drafted #1 in the WNBA Draft.

Arike Ogunbowale

Arike was drafted #5 overall to the Dallas Wings. One of the clutchest players ever for the Irish gets picked in the top 5. She joins fellow Irish alum Skylar Diggins-Smith in Dallas.

Brianna Turner

Breezy Bri was drafted #11 overall to the Atlanta Dream. That makes 3 Irish players drafted in the first round this year.

However, Bri was then traded to the Phoenix Mercury, so her new home is now Phoenix!

Jessica Shepard

Jess was drafted #16 overall to the Minneota Lynx. What a boss.

Marina Mabrey

Marina was drafted #20 overall to the LA Sparks. The spark for 3 pointers heads to LA.

Impact

This is the first time ever in the history of the WNBA that one school had 5 players drafted in the Top 20. This was an absolutely phenomenal team that has just left the program. They were a treat to watch. Thank you for the memories, and we wish them all the best. They’re all bosses.