Holdsclaw’s No. 1; Sparks Pick Milton

When the WNBA’s ABL-loaded draft was over Tuesday morning, Los Angeles Spark Coach Orlando Woolridge looked around and said he didn’t see anyone who looked healthier than his team.

“Yeah, I feel we had the best draft, but I’m biased,” he said, “and I know a lot of teams got better. But I’m really excited about how this came out for us.”

The Sparks, picking fourth in the first round, chose one of the premier defenders in women’s basketball, DeLisha Milton. She’s a Florida graduate, the second pick in the 1997 ABL draft, by Portland, and has already played with the Sparks’ center, Lisa Leslie.

The team’s second-round pick, 16th overall, was center Clarisse Machanguana, formerly of the ABL’s San Jose Lasers, Old Dominion University and Mozambique. With the 28th choice, Los Angeles secured only the fifth collegian taken to that point, NCAA champion Purdue’s point guard, Ukari Figgs.

Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw was the first selection in the draft, taken by the Washington Mystics, but no other collegian was taken until the New York Liberty took Duke’s Michele VanGorp 18th. Purdue’s Stephanie White-McCarty (21st, to the Charlotte Sting) and Old Dominion’s Mery Andrade (23rd, to the Cleveland Rockers) were the other collegians taken before Figgs.

The Sparks’ final pick was La’Keshia Frett, formerly of the ABL Philadelphia Rage and before that Georgia.

By picking Milton, Woolridge goes to training camp May 14 with experienced teammates up front. On the U.S. team with Leslie that won the world championship at Berlin last year, Milton averaged 7.1 points and 4.2 rebounds.

“I will complement Lisa’s game,” Milton said Tuesday. “My attributes will . . . make life easier for her in the paint.”

Leslie, for one, was delighted.

“People will love DeLisha’s style of play,” Leslie said.

“She’s 6-2 and plays 6-8. DeLisha’s wingspan is much longer than mine is, and I’m 6-5. She’s just a great defender.”

Woolridge said his second pick, Machanguana, was a defensive one. “We want to get better defensively and in Clarisse we get a low post who can play the 4 or 5, who has very long arms and who can take pressure off both Lisa and DeLisha.”

After Washington picked Holdsclaw, 10 consecutive ABL players were chosen before Houston, in a surprise, took Russian Natalia Zassoulskaia. Comet Coach Van Chancellor was expected to take a point guard first, but wound up getting guard Sonja Henning in the second round.

Former Virginia, Olympic team and ABL point guard Dawn Staley, once thought to be headed to the Sparks, fell to Charlotte as the ninth pick.

Woolridge acknowledged that Western Conference rival Sacramento got much better, also.

The Monarchs (8-22 in ‘98) selected ex-Long Beach ABL center Yolanda Griffith, then added point guard Kedra Holland-Corn and three-point threat Kate Starbird.

Utah (also 8-22 last year), improved significantly with center Natalie Williams as the third pick overall, point guard Debbie Black and another solid ABL front liner, Adrienne Goodson.

The Mystics not only added Holdsclaw, a four-time All-American and a two-time college player of the year, but also 1998 ABL all-star Shalonda Enis, who was the league’s No. 5 scorer and No. 7 rebounder. The Mystics’ third-round pick was ex-StingRay point guard Andrea Nagy.

The only other StingRay selected was Clarisa Davis-Wrightsil, 22nd, by Phoenix. Two 1996 Olympians, Venus Lacy and Katy Steding, were passed up. So was Valerie Still, two-time ABL playoff most valuable player, who had knee surgery last fall.

The ABL, although defunct, will have much of its two-time champion intact in Minnesota. Lynx Coach Brian Agler rebuilt his Columbus Quest team, drafting four of his former players to go along with allocated player, Katie Smith, of the Quest.

Minnesota will miss former Columbus guard Shannon Johnson, who was allocated to Carolyn Peck’s Orlando expansion team that took three 1998 ABL all-stars (Tari Phillips, Sheri Sam and Elaine Powell), one 1996 Olympian (Carla McGhee) and one 1998 world championship player (Taj McWilliams).

There were 34 ABL players taken, 11 collegians and five foreigners.

Surprises:

* Four-time Olympian Teresa Edwards, 34, didn’t sign a WNBA contract and wasn’t eligible for the draft.

* Louisiana Tech forward Monica Maxwell had a great NCAA tournament but wasn’t picked. She’s headed to a tryout camp with the Mystics.

* Beverly Williams, onetime well-rounded guard for the StingRays, wasn’t picked.

Sparks Selections

1. DeLisha Milton / Portland, ABL (6-1)

2. Clarisse Machanguana / San Jose, ABL (6-5)

3. Ukari Figgs / Purdue (5-9)

4. La’Keshia Frett / Philadelphia, ABL (6-3)

* RANDY HARVEY: It’s a great time for female athletes such as Chamique Holdsclaw, who is one of several courting fame through marketing. Page 2

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WNBA DRAFT / ROUND ONE

Selections from the 1999 WNBA draft with team, player, projected position and college, country or ABL team:

*--*

1. Washington Chamique Holdsclaw G-F Tennessee 2. Sacramento Yolanda Griffith F-C Chicago Condors 3. Utah Natalie Williams C Portland Power 4. Los Angeles DeLisha Milton F Portland Power 5. Detroit Jennifer Azzi G San Jose Lasers 6. New York Crystal Robinson F Colorado Xplosion 7. Minnesota Tonya Edwards G Columbus Quest 8. Orlando Tari Phillips F Colorado Xplosion 9. Charlotte Dawn Staley G Philadelphia Rage 10. Phoenix Edna Campbell G Colorado Xplosion 11. Cleveland Chasity Melvin C Philadelphia Rage 12. Houston Natalia Zassoulskaia F Russia

*--*

****

ROUND TWO

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13. Washington Shalonda Enis C Seattle Reign 14. Sacramento Kedra Holland-Corn G San Jose Lasers 15. Utah Debbie Black G Colorado Xplosion 16. Los Angeles Clarisse Machanguana C San Jose Lasers 17. Detroit Val Whiting C Seattle Reign 18. New York Michele VanGorp c Duke 19. Minnesota Trisha Fallon G-F Australia 20. Orlando Sheri Sam G-F San Jose Lasers 21. Charlotte Stephanie White-McCarty G-F Purdue 22. Phoenix Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil F San Jose Lasers 23. Cleveland Mery Andrade F Old Dominion 24. Houston Sonja Henning G Portland Power

*--*

****

ROUND THREE

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25. Washington Andrea Nagy G Philadelphia Rage 26. Sacramento Kate Starbird G Seattle Reign 27. Utah Adrienne Goodson F Chicago Condors 28. Los Angeles Ukari Figgs G Purdue 29. Detroit Dominique Canty G-F Alabama 30. New York Tamika Whitmore C Memphis 31. Minnesota Andrea Lloyd F Columbus Quest 32. Orlando Taj McWilliams C Philadelphia Rage 33. Charlotte Charlotte Smith F San Jose Lasers 34. Phoenix Lisa Harrison F Columbus Quest 35. Cleveland Tracy Henderson C Nashville Noise 36. Houston Kara Wolters C New England Blizzard

*--*

****

ROUND FOUR

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37. Washington Jennifer Whittle C Australia 38. Sacramento Amy Herrig C Iowa 39. Utah Dalma Ivanyi G Florida International 40. Los Angeles La’Keshia Frett F Philadelphia Rage 41. Detroit Astou Ndiaye F-C Seattle Reign 42. New York Carolyn Jones-Young G New England Blizzard 43. Minnesota Sonja Tate G Columbus Quest 44. Orlando Carla McGhee F Columbus Quest 45. Charlotte Angie Braziel F Texas Tech 46. Phoenix Amanda Wilson F Louisiana Tech 47. Cleveland Kellie Jolly G Tennessee 48. Houston Jennifer Rizzotti G New England Blizzard 49. Minnesota Angie Potthoff G Columbus Quest 50. Orlando Elaine Powell G Portland Power

*--*