The 2025 WNBA Draft was hosted on April 14th at “The Shed” in New York. Some elements of the draft were fairly predictable, such as the first-round pick, but other moments shocked the fans, the players, and me. The fashion was phenomenal, the representation of women in sports was inspiring, and the impending season of the WNBA was just made that much more exciting. This year’s draft was also very special for NC State, with Saniya Rivers going as the 8th pick in the 1st round—higher than any player from NC State athletics has gone before. So this was definitely a night to remember and one of my favorite nights of the year!
The fashion of women’s basketball players is always to be noted; each player always does an amazing job of expressing their masculine or feminine side. There is never a shortage of suits and extravagant gowns. One player who inspired a lot of talk was Georgia Amoore, a guard from the University of Kentucky. She partnered with Russell Westbrook and the brand “Honor the Gift” to both style her for the evening and launch a shirt with the message “Honor Women.” A portion of the proceeds from this shirt will be donated to the nonprofit organization “I Play Like a Girl.” I always find it so cool that these women often go out of their way to not only play well and achieve great things because of their talent but also find ways to give back and inspire future women in sports. Georgia was drafted as the 6th pick in the 1st round to the Washington Mystics.
Another stunning example of being well-dressed was Kiki Iriafen, a forward from USC. She was wearing a stunning dress by Nigerian designer Nneka C. Alexander. She spoke of her draft outfit as being important to her because it allowed her to display her Nigerian culture. Her sheer off-the-shoulder dress was covered in beading and was absolutely to die for. She was later drafted as the 4th pick in the 1st round to the Washington Mystics.
NC State was a large part of the draft night, being one of only two schools that had two players invited to the draft. Seniors Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers both were drafted in the first round. Aziaha was drafted by the Dallas Wings, and Saniya was drafted by the Connecticut Sun. This is really huge for NC State; this is both the first time we have had two players drafted in the first round and the highest one of our players has ever been drafted. I am expecting big things from these two and wishing them a very successful WNBA career.
The rest of the first round went as expected. A fan favorite, Paige Bueckers, went in the first round to the Dallas Wings (with our girl Aziaha). She was expected to go first round for some time now, and I’m happy that she finally got her moment after putting in all her hard work at UCONN. Another very big and controversial moment that happened at the draft was that Sedona Prince, a 6’7” center that played for TCU, went undrafted after many sexual assault allegations were out against her. The announcers even took the time to highlight her towards the end of the draft, as she was projected to be drafted in the first round. It is speculated that the teams were not willing to take her on as a player given her past allegations. Nothing else so dramatic happened at this year’s draft, but it was a fun watch, and I am very proud to be a viewer of women’s sports and look forward to the WNBA season