The first couple of rounds of Friday’s WNBA draft were televised live on ESPN2, but Kansas University’s Jaclyn Johnson was nowhere near the tube.
“I had to work out,” Johnson said after learning she had been tapped in the third round of the WNBA draft 42nd overall by the Orlando Miracle. “I can’t be stopping what I do to watch TV.”
Johnson, a senior from Burbank, Calif., who will graduate next month with a journalism degree, led the Jayhawks in scoring (16.1 points per game), rebounding (7.7 rpg), steals (2.1 spg) and blocks (.9 blocks per game) last season. But she wasn’t certain she’d be drafted into the WNBA.
“I didn’t think I’d go anywhere,” Johnson said. “I knew that a couple of teams saw me playing and liked me, but there’s a lot of good girls this year. To say I’m in the ranks with those women is nice. I just figured I’d wait and see. If it happens, it happens. There are only 64 picks. To go in the third round I’ll take it.”
Even if her new team is a continent away from her hometown.
“Yeah, it is a long ways away,” Johnson said, “but it’s Orlando. I can live with that. I’ve only been to Florida once, when I was 15. I went to Disneyworld.”
Johnson couldn’t have imagined her professional career would start in the shadow of Mickey Mouse.
“I had no idea they were interested in me,” she said. “Coach said Minnesota, or maybe Orlando. They’ve been talking to coach, not me. It was a surprise.”
Three former Jayhawks already are in the league Tamecka Dixon, Los Angeles Sparks; Lynn Pride, Minnesota Lynx; and Charisse Sampson, Seattle Storm.
Johnson will report to training camp on April 30.
“I’m excited about going,” she said. “But it’s work. It’s a business. It’s a job now, but I’ll still go out and play hard and enjoy it.”
Four other players from the Big 12 were drafted Friday. Missouri’s Amanda Lassiter was picked in the first round by Houston. Teammate Marlena Williams was taken by Indiana in the third round. Texas A&M’s Jaynetta Saunders was taken in the second round by Cleveland. Iowa State’s Megan Taylor went to Minnesota in the fourth round.
