The Chicago Sky has drawn the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 WNBA Draft lottery that took place in New York City, league officials announced today. Four teams were in the Lottery including the Sky, the Tulsa Shock, Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks. Tulsa drew the No. 4 pick, Minnesota drew No. 3 and the Los Angeles Sparks drew the No. 1 overall pick.
The Shock had the best opportunity to secure the first overall pick with 442 chances out of 1000 ( 44.2% ) . The Lynx had the next best odds with 276 chances out of 1000 ( 27.6 % ) , and the Sky and Sparks rounded out the Lottery with 178 out of 1000 ( 17.8% ) and 104 chances out of 1000 ( 10.4% ) , respectively. The 2012 Draft will take place in April in New York City.
"I'm excited and look forward to utilizing the No. 2 pick to improve our team," said Head Coach Pokey Chatman. "Coupled with free agency, it gives a step in the direction necessary to reach our goals and succeed."
This marks the second time in the team's history that the Sky has had the No. 2 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. The Sky had the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2008 when they selected Sylvia Fowles, a center from LSU. Fowles has emerged as the Sky's franchise player, a three time All-Star and the 2011 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The 2012 WNBA Draft will see the Sky with a first and third round pick only. The Sky traded their 2012 second round pick to the Los Angeles Sparks in May 2011 in exchange for forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton.
The Sky last season drew the No.3 pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft and selected Courtney Vandersloot, a guard from Gonzaga University. Vandersloot had a solid first season with the Sky. She was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team, All-Rookie Team and set a Sky single season record for assists. The Sky finished the 2011 season with a record of 14-20, fifth in the Eastern Conference.
WNBA officials and a representative from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young conducted the Draft Lottery in New York City to establish the order of selection for the first four picks of the 2012 WNBA Draft. The order of selection for the remainder of the first round as well as the second and third round is determined by inverse order of the teams' respective regular-season records.
The following are results of the 2012 WNBA Draft Lottery:
2012 WNBA DRAFT LOTTERY ORDER
Team/Record/Chances ( out of 1,000 )
Los Angeles/15-19/104
Chicago/14-20/178
Minnesota/27-7/276
Tulsa/3-31/442
The 2012 WNBA First Round Draft order as follows:
2012 WNBA FIRST ROUND DRAFT ORDER
Team/Record
1/Los Angels/15-19
2/Chicago/14-20
3/Minnesota from Washington ( Anosike — 4/8/11 ) /27-7
4/Tulsa/3-31
5/San Antonio/18-16
6/Phoenix/19-15
7/New York/19-15
8/Washington from Atlanta ( L. Harding/T Phillips, K. Miller — 4/11/11 ) /20-14
9/Connecticut/21-13
10/Washington from Seattle ( K. Smith, J. Monroe/J. Thomas — 4/29/11 ) /21-13
11/Indiana/21-13
12/Minnesota/27-7
About the Chicago Sky
The Chicago Sky, one of six independently owned WNBA teams, has just finished its sixth season as a member of the WNBA's Eastern Conference. The Sky play May through September at Allstate Arena. For information on 2012 ticket packages to see the Sky play, call 866.SKY.WNBA or visit www.chicagosky.net .
