Seattle selects Tennessee standout Jordan Horston with the ninth overall pick
SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm added four players during Monday’s WNBA Draft, selecting guard Jordan Horston from Tennessee ninth overall with its first-round pick, forwards Madi Williams from Oklahoma and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu [pronounced DULL-see fan-come men-gee-AHH-due] with its 18th and 21st selections, respectively, in the second round, and guard Jade Loville from Arizona, with the 33rd overall pick.
Horston, a 6-2 guard from Tennessee, became just the second Lady Vol to finish her career with 1,000+ points, 700+ rebounds, and 400+ assists, tallying 1,445 points, 731 rebounds, 455 assists over four seasons in Knoxville. She ranks No. 1 among all true guards at Tennessee with 21 career double-doubles, including eight in 2022-23, and finished seventh in school history in both career assists (455) and career assists per game average (3.99). In 2022-23, Horston was second on the team in scoring average at 15.6 ppg and first in rebounds (7.1), assists (3.3), steals (1.6) and blocks (1.1). She also shot a career-best 43.8% from the field and 73.9% from the free throw line while tallying career highs in blocks (38) and steals (55). She joins fellow UT alum Mercedes Russell on the Storm roster and is the Storm’s third first-round pick from Tennessee (Semeka Randall, 2001, Shekinna Stricklen, 2012).
Williams, a 6-0 forward from Oklahoma, earned All-America honorable-mention recognition in back-to-back seasons with the Sooners, averaging 15.7 points on a team-high 51.4% clip in 2022-23. During the season, she became the first Sooner to amass career totals of 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 350 assists, and leaves Oklahoma ranked in the top five all-time in points, rebounds, assists and steals. In 2022-23, she joined Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, as one of two players to post 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per 40 minutes.
Mendjiadeu, a 6-4 forward from Nkongsamba, Cameroon, played her final two seasons at the University of South Florida after opening her collegiate career at Walters State Community College followed by two seasons at Memphis. In her final season with the Bulls, she averaged 16.5 points per game, second on the team and third in the American Athletic Conference, and a conference-best 12.3 rebounds per outing, both career-highs. She led the AAC and finished third in the NCAA with 418 total rebounds while her rebounds per game average led The American and ranked fifth in the nation. She also posted 24 double-doubles, good for fourth overall in NCAA DI.
Loville, a 5-11 guard returns to the Pacific Northwest after closing out her collegiate career at the University of Arizona. The Sammamish, Washington, native and Skyline High School grad, played three seasons at Boise State before transferring to Arizona State and then finishing up at Arizona in 2022-23. Loville averaged 9.8 points per game in 32 games with the Wildcats, scoring in double-figures 18 times and shooting 36.1% from three-point range on the season. She was an All-Pac-12 pick at Arizona State in 2021-22, averaging 18.4 ppg in conference play. At Skyline, Loville averaged 37.1 ppg and 8.8 rpg en route to all-State honors.
Single game tickets along with Storm Mini Plans and Group Experiences are available for the 2023 season. For more information, visit http://stormbasketball.com, or call 206-217-WNBA (9622).
—— StormBasketball.com ——