Edwards set to take another big step on her hoops journey
Canadian expected to be first-round WNBA pick
It has been a long, hard road from Kingston to the WNBA draft stage for Aaliyah Edwards, the journey a testament to her will and perseverance and skill.
The 21-year-old forward is sure to hear her name called in the first round of the league’s draft in Brooklyn on Monday night, the culmination of dreams hatched in eastern Ontario.
“It’s also humbling at the same time, because even though my name’s out there, it’s more just a credit to all the hard work and the effort I put in behind the scenes and put into the game that I’m passionate about,” Edwards told reporters this past week. “So I’m just going to go into the draft just being blessed with whatever outcome it is, but truly grateful to be recognized like that.”
The six-foot-three Edwards, forgoing another season at the University of Connecticut, is expected by most experts to go in the middle of the first round. Mock drafts have her anywhere from No. 5 to No. 8, which would make her the highest Canadian pick of the current era.
Among Canadians now in the WNBA, Laeticia Amihere went eighth to the Atlanta Dream in 2023, Kia Nurse was selected 10th in 2018 by the New York Liberty, and Bridget Carleton went 21st to the Connecticut Sun in 2019. Stacey Dales of Brockville was the third pick by Washington in 2002, the highest a Canadian has ever been taken.
In four seasons at Connecticut, Edwards was a two-time all-American and averaged 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds, helping the Huskies reach the NCAA Final Four.
“Did I expect this? No,” Edwards said on a call with reporters about individual accolades.
“I’m a team player, so I’ll do anything for the team to get the win at the end of the day, and to impact any way that I can, so the individual awards and accolades are just a piece of recognition that’s raising my game.”
Edwards is part of one of the most anticipated WNBA draft classes of years, and unquestionably among the most well-known by even casual sports fans.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is certain to be taken first overall by the Indiana Fever, with Stanford forward Cameron Brink, Tennessee guard Rickea Jackson and South Carolina centre Kamilla Cardoso in the mix for the second and third selections.
After years of holding the draft remotely because of pandemic concerns, this event will play out live and with about 1,000 spectators at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It is an effort to capitalize on an American college basketball season that set viewership records, culminating in more than18 million viewers seeing LSU beat Iowa in the women’s championship game on April 7.
“We have women coming into the draft this year who people are very much aware of, and eager to see how their game is going to translate at this level,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo told The Associated Press.
For Edwards, the draft kicks off a busy summer. WNBA training camps begin April 26. And when the league goes on hiatus from July 21 to Aug. 14, Edwards will be in Paris with Team Canada at the Olympics.