Re: Anyone know?

Any comparisons would have to take into account the players that were
playing in the ABL in 1997-1999 and came over to the WNBA in 1999.  Natalie
Williams and Katie Smith immediately come to mind. Yolanda Griffith was an
ABL player that was MVP in her first year in the WNBA.


Rebecca Lobo was an inaugural year player.  I believe she was second or
third player signed by the WNBA.

>From an unimpeachable source:

1997 WNBA PLAYER ALLOCATION - 22Jan97
CHR - Vicky Bullett                      C    Maryland
          Andrea Stinson                 G    North Carolina State
CRK - Janice Lawrence Braxton  C    Louisiana Tech
           Michelle Edwards             G    Iowa
HTC - Sheryl Swoopes                F    Texas Tech
          Cynthia Cooper                G    Southern California
LSP -  Lisa Leslie                       C    Southern California
          Penny Toler                     G    Long Beach State
NYL - Rebecca Lobo                 C/F  Connecticut
         Teresa Weatherspoon       G    Louisiana Tech
PHM - Michele Timms                G    Australia
          Jennifer Gillom                C    Mississippi
SAM - Ruthie Bolton-Holifield      G    Auburn
          Bridgette Gordon              F    Tennessee
USZ -  Elena Baranova              C/F  Russia
          Lady Hardmon                 G    Georgia

1997 WNBA ELITE DRAFT - 27Feb97

FIRST ROUND
 1 - USZ  Dena Head              G    Tennessee
 2 - CRK  Isabelle Fijalkowski   C/F  Colorado
 3 - CHR  Rhonda Mapp            C/F  North Carolina State
 4 - NYL  Kym Hampton            C/F  Arizona State
 5 - HTC  Wanda Guyton           F    South Florida
 6 - SAM  Judy Mosley-McAfee     F    Hawaii
 7 - PHM  Bridget Pettis         F    Florida
 8 - LSP  Daedra Charles         C    Tennessee

SECOND ROUND
 9 - USZ  Wendy Palmer           F    Virginia
10 - CRK  Lynette Woodard        G    Kansas
11 - CHR  Michi Atkins           F    Texas Tech
12 - NYL  Vickie Johnson         F    Louisiana State
13 - HTC  Janeth Arcain          F    Brazil
14 - SAM  Mikiko Hagiwara        G    Japan
15 - PHM  Nancy Lieberman-Cline  G    Old Dominion
16 - LSP  Zheng Haixia           C    China

1997 WNBA DRAFT - 28Apr97

FIRST ROUND
 1 - HTC  Tina Thompson       F    Southern California
 2 - SAM  Pamela McGee        C    Southern California
 3 - LSP  Jamila Wideman      G    Stanford
 4 - CRK  Eva Nemcova         G    Czech Republic
 5 - USZ  Tammi Reiss         G    Virginia
 6 - NYL  Sue Wicks           F    Rutgers
 7 - CHR  Tora Suber          G    Virginia
 8 - PHM  Toni Foster         F/C  Iowa

SECOND ROUND
 9 - PHM  Tia Jackson         G/F  Iowa
10 - CHR  Sharon Manning      C/F  North Carolina State
11 - NYL  Sophia Witherspoon  G    Florida
12 - USZ  Jessie Hicks        F/C  Maryland
13 - CRK  Merlakia Jones      G/F  Florida
14 - LSP  Tamecka Dixon       G    Kansas
15 - SAM  Denique Graves      C    Howard
16 - HTC  Tammy Jackson       F/C  Florida

THIRD ROUND
17 - HTC  Racquel Spurlock    C    Louisiana Tech
18 - SAM  Chantel Tremitiere  G    Auburn
19 - LSP  Katrina Colleton    G    Maryland
20 - CRK  Tina Nicholson      G    Penn State
21 - USZ  Raegan Scott        F/C  Colorado
22 - NYL  Trena Trice         F/C  North Carolina State
23 - CHR  Debra Williams      G    Louisiana Tech
24 - PHM  Umeki Webb          G/F  North Carolina State

FOURTH ROUND
25 - PHM  Monique Ambers      F    Arizona State
26 - CHR  Andrea Congreaves   F/C  Mercer
27 - NYL  Kisha Ford          G/F  Georgia Tech
28 - USZ  Kim Williams        G    DePaul
29 - CRK  Anita Maxwell       F    New Mexico State
30 - LSP  Travesa Gant        C    Lamar
31 - SAM  Tajama Abraham      C    George Washington
32 - HTC  Catarina Pollini    F    Italy


ABL players were drafted into the WNBA in 1998 and 1999:

1998 WNBA PLAYER ALLOCATION - 27Jan98

<edited list>
WAM - Nikki McCray                   G    Tennessee [Columbus Quest, ABL]


1999 WNBA PLAYER ALLOCATION - 3May99
MNL - Katie Smith            F    Ohio State [Columbus Quest, ABL]
ORM - Shannon Johnson        G    South Carolina [Columbus Quest, ABL]

1999 WNBA DRAFT - 4May99

(Note that the only player whose NCAAW eligibility ended in 1999
that was drafted in the first round was Chamique Holdsclaw. All of
the rest of the first round draftees were ABL players except for
a Russian)

FIRST ROUND
 1 - WAM Chamique Holdsclaw        G/F  Tennessee '99
 2 - SAM Yolanda Griffith          F/C  Florida Atlantic '93 [Chicago
Condors, ABL]
 3 - USZ Natalie Williams          C    UCLA '92 [Portland Power, ABL]
 4 - LSP DeLisha Milton            F    Florida '97 [Portland Power, ABL]
 5 - DTS Jennifer Azzi             G    Stanford '90 [San Jose Lasers, ABL]
 6 - NYL Crystal Robinson          F    SE Oklahoma St, '96 [Colorado
Xplosion, ABL]
 7 - MNL Tonya Edwards             G    Tennessee '90 [Columbus Quest, ABL]
 8 - ORM Tari Phillips             F    Central Florida '91 [Colorado
Xplosion, ABL]
 9 - CHR Dawn Staley               G    Virginia '92 [Philadelphia Rage,
ABL]
10 - PHM Edna Campbell             G    Texas '91 [Colorado Xplosion, ABL]
11 - CRK Chasity Melvin            C    North Carolina State '98
[Philadelphia Rage, ABL]
12 - HTC Natalia Zassoulskaia      F    Russia

SECOND ROUND
13 - WAM Shalonda Enis             F    Alabama '97 [Seattle Reign, ABL]
14 - SAM Kedra Holland-Corn        G    Georgia '97 [San Jose Lasers, ABL]
15 - USZ Debbie Black              G    St. Joseph's '88 [Colorado Xplosion,
ABL]
16 - LSP Clarisse Machanguana      C    Old Dominion '97 [San Jose Lasers,
ABL]
17 - DTS Val Whiting               C    Stanford '93 [Seattle Reign, ABL]
18 - NYL Michele VanGorp           C    Duke '99
19 - MNL Trisha Fallon             G/F  Australia
20 - ORM Sheri Sam                 F/G  Vanderbilt '96 [San Jose Lasers,
ABL]
21 - CHR Stephanie White-McCarty   G/F  Purdue '99
22 - PHM Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil  F    Texas '89 [San Jose Lasers, ABL]
23 - CRK Mery Andrade              F    Old Dominion '99
24 - HTC Sonja Henning             G    Stanford '91 [Portland Power, ABL]

THIRD ROUND
25 - WAM Andrea Nagy               G    Florida International '95
[Philadelphia Rage, ABL]
26 - SAM Kate Starbird             G    Stanford '97 [Seattle Reign, ABL]
27 - USZ Adrienne Goodson          F    Old Dominion '88 [Chicago Condors,
ABL]
28 - LSP Ukari Figgs               G    Purdue '99
29 - DTS Dominique Canty           G/F  Alabama '99
30 - NYL Tamika Whitmore           C    Memphis '99
31 - MNL Andrea Lloyd              F    Texas '87 [Columbus Quest, ABL]
32 - ORM Taj McWilliams            C    St. Edwards '93 [Philadelphia Rage,
ABL]
33 - CHR Charlotte Smith           F    North Carolina '95 [San Jose Lasers,
ABL]
34 - PHM Lisa Harrison             F    Tennessee '93 [Columbus Quest, ABL]
35 - CRK Tracy Henderson           C    Georgia '97 [Nashville Noise, ABL]
36 - HTC Kara Wolters              C    Connecticut '97 [New England
Blizzard, ABL]

FOURTH ROUND
37 - WAM Jennifer Whittle          C    Australia
38 - SAM Amy Herrig                C    Iowa '99
39 - USZ Dalma Ivanyi              G    Florida International '99
40 - LSP La'Keshia Frett           F    Georgia '97 [Philadelphia Rage, ABL]
41 - DTS Astou Ndiaye              F/C  Southern Nazarene '97 [Seattle
Reign, ABL]
42 - NYL Carolyn Jones-Young       G    Auburn '91 [New England Blizzard,
ABL]
43 - MNL Sonja Tate                G    Arkansas State '93 [Columbus Quest,
ABL]
44 - ORM Carla McGhee              F    Tennessee '90 [Columbus Quest, ABL]
45 - CHR Angie Braziel             F    Texas Tech '99
46 - PHM Amanda Wilson             F    Louisiana Tech '99
47 - CRK Kellie Jolly              G    Tennessee '99
48 - HTC Jennifer Rizzotti         G    Connecticut '96 [New England
Blizzard, ABL]
49 - MNL Angie Potthoff            F    Penn State '97 [Columbus Quest, ABL]
50 - ORM Elaine Powell             G    Louisiana State '97 [Portland Power,
ABL]





"Linda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (SMMfan1) wrote in message
news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > Since the retirement of Rebecca Lobo, how many inaugural year players
are still
> > left on the active list?  ...And, if someone out there is a REAL
statistics
> > nut, perhaps it could be discovered how many NBA players from '97 are
still
> > playing.  Then, taking the total number of today's active players (in
both
> > leagues), we could get percentage numbers.  The intelligence gained from
a
> > longevity comparison could be quite interesting.  Off hand, I would
think that
> > -- as a percentage -- the NBA has more players from '97 still playing.
But, I
> > could be wrong.
> >
> > Jim
>
> Hmmm, according to WNBA.com, Rebecca was not an inaugural player
> (she's listed with 5 years, not 6).  I thought she was!
>
> Following are those listed with 6 years:
>
> Ruthie Bolton
> Lady Grooms
> Rushia Brown
> Andrea Stinson
> Merlakia Jones
> Wendy Palmer
> Janeth Arcain
> Tina Thompson (?  thought she came in during the 2nd year)
> Bridgett Pettis
> Lisa Leslie
> Mwadi Mabika
> Sophia Witherspoon
> Tameka Dixon
> Jennifer Gillom
> Teresa Weatherspoon
> Vickie Johnson
> Cycnthia Cooper (sort of - she has 4 years but was there from the
> start of course)
>
> Sheryl Swoopes (? they show her with 5 years, but I thought she played
> some toward the end of the first year)
>
> Looks like them most inaugural players play for the Sparks (4).
> Latasha Byears would have made it 5.
>
> Someone else can come up with the NBA player stats.