Richards, Carrington Selected in 2021 WNBA Draft from Baylor WBB
Robarts, Kyle
Kyle_Robarts at baylor.edu
Thu Apr 15 20:30:00 CDT 2021
BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 15, 2021
Richards, Carrington Selected in 2021 WNBA Draft from Baylor WBB
Richards first ever selected by New York, Baylor grad transfer taken for 3rd straight year
For more information contact: Kyle Robarts, 254-405-9492, Kyle_Robarts at baylor.edu<mailto:Kyle_Robarts at baylor.edu>
Richards Head Shot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ve65a3ms8np3r4e/BU_WBB_Richards_DiDI_20-21.JPG?dl=0
Carrington Head Shot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mpww7uz4s0w5eix/BU_WBB_Carrington_DIJonai_20-21.JPG?dl=0
WACO, Texas – Baylor University women’s basketball pair DiDi Richards and DiJonai Carrington were each selected Thursday in the 2021 WNBA Draft. Richards was selected in the second round by the New York Liberty with the 17th overall pick while the Connecticut Sun took Carrington with the 20th overall pick in the second round.
Thursday marked the sixth-straight year that at least one Lady Bears player has been drafted. Richards and Carrington were the 20th and 21st selections in Baylor history, respectively.
Richards is one of the most highly decorated defensive players in Baylor’s program history. She won two National Defensive Player of the Year awards for the 2019-20 season with both the WBCA and Naismith crowning her as the winner. Her reputation for on-ball defense and holding her individual opponent to 26-percent shooting her junior season pushed her to the top. She was a three-time All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection with unanimous selections from the Big 12 head coaches in each of her last two seasons.
“We were considering DiDi, she was in the mix for a long time for the sixth pick, and so the fact that we were able to get her at 17 was really, really exciting,” said New York Liberty Head Coach Walt Hopkins. “We threw a pretty big celebration in there when it happened.”
The Cypress, Texas, native also left Baylor at third all-time on the career assists list, despite playing point guard for just one season. Her 568 career assists trailed only Niya Johnson and Odyssey Sims. Richards ranked in the Top 10 nationally in assists per game in each of her last two seasons and in the Top 25 in assist-to-turnover ratio as a junior and senior.
The all-around player compiled 879 points, 171 steals, 528 rebounds, and she shot 48.3 percent from the floor for her career. She played in 131 career games for Baylor with 98 starts and a 123-8 record.
The New York Liberty finished 2-20 in the 2020 WNBA Standings. Richards is the first Baylor player selected by the New York franchise.
For the third-straight year for Baylor, a graduate transfer was taken in the draft with Carrington joining Chloe Jackson (2019, 2nd Round, Chicago) and Te’a Cooper (2020, 2nd Round, Phoenix). Carrington, a San Diego, Calif. native, was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection while earning both the Big 12 Sixth Woman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards.
“DiJonai is one of the best two-way wings in the draft. A physical guard that scores at multiple levels and defends with physicality,” said Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller. “She has played under two legendary coaches in our coaching profession.”
In 135 games between Stanford and Baylor, Carrington amassed 1,294 points and 685 rebounds. She averaged 9.6 points per game in four-plus season as a collegian, including a career-best 14.1 points per game with Baylor this season. Carrington also posted career bests with 63 assists and 56 steals in 27 games for the Lady Bears.
Despite a 10-12 finish in the 2020 WNBA Standings, the Sun advanced to the WNBA Playoffs semifinals round before falling to the Las Vegas Aces. Carrington is the second-straight Baylor player selected by the Sun after Juicy Landrum was a third-round selection in 2020.
BAYLOR WNBA DRAFT HISTORY
Year Name Team Rd Pk
2002 Sheila Lambert Charlotte Sting 1 7
2002 Danielle Crockrom Utah Starzz 1 11
2005 Steffanie Blackmon Seattle Storm 3 38
2006 Sophia Young San Antonio Silver Stars 1 4
2007 Bernice Mosby Washington Mystics 1 6
2008 Angela Tisdale Chicago Sky 3 33
2009 Jessica Morrow Atlanta Dream 3 27
2013 Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury 1 1
2013 Brooklyn Pope Chicago Sky 3 28
2014 Odyssey Sims Tulsa Shock 1 2
2016 Niya Johnson Atlanta Dream 3 28
2017 Alexis Jones Minnesota Lynx 1 12
2017 Alexis Prince Phoenix Mercury 3 29
2018 Kristy Wallace Atlanta Dream 2 16
2019 Kalani Brown Los Angeles Sparks 1 7
2019 Chloe Jackson Chicago Sky 2 15
2020 Lauren Cox Indiana Fever 1 3
2020 Te’a Cooper Phoenix Mercury 2 18
2020. Juicy Landrum Connecticut Sun 3 35
2021. DiDi Richards New York Liberty 2 17
2021. DiJonai Carrington Connecticut Sun 2 20
www.BaylorBears.com
___________________________________
Kyle Robarts | Associate Director, Athletics Communications (WBB, WTEN)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3042 | C: 254-405-9492
[cid:image001.png at 01D73236.1B335250]<http://baylorbears.com/>
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