Rachel Banham Awaits Thursday's WNBA Draft

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Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.twincities.com/2016/04/12/umn-star-rachel-banham-invited-to-attend-wnba-draft/

Gophers senior All-American Rachel Banham is among the 12 players invited to attend Thursday’s WNBA Draft, the league announced Tuesday.


http://espn.go.com/wnba/story/_/id/...minnesota-golden-gophers-ready-take-game-wnba

Banham is expected to be a first-round pick in Thursday's WNBA draft (ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET), but she knows she likely won't be starting her pro career in Minnesota. The defending WNBA champion Lynx have the second pick of the second round, and with guards Renee Montgomery, Lindsay Whalen, and Seimone Augustus on the roster, they don't really need another scoring guard.

Not that Banham will be around anyway. Though the UConn trio of Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck are expected to dominate the upper half of the first round, Banham is projected in some mock draft to go to Connecticut (which has the Nos. 3 and 4 picks) or Dallas (No. 5).


http://spokesman-recorder.com/2016/04/11/countdown-wnba-draft-2016-rachel-banham/

“Anybody that puts up three games going 45-plus points is definitely going to get the attention because offense is a premium in the WNBA, and a player that can score the ball the way that she does, I think teams could find a role,” declared ESPN Analyst Carolyn Peck last week during a WNBA pre-draft media teleconference, which included the MSR.

This was her response after we asked if not getting in the NCAAs — a typical platform for players to enhance their draft prospects — may hurt Banham, who finished as the nation’s second-leading scorer who thrice this season scored 40-plus points, including a 60-point game and a 52-point game.

Rather, said Peck, what might hurt Rachel is not her scoring but her defense, especially since the Gophers the last two years played mostly zone. “Can she score more points than she give up?” stated the former WNBA coach/general manager on Banham.
 

Agree on the defense. RB has the ability to play straight up, but it will be a learning process, especially on the switches.
 

For any Gopher player who played the last two seasons, including Rachel, defense is a foreign concept. Wasn't emphasized, and was probably barely taught.

Rachel will be fine. She'll get much better coaching in the pro ranks than she got under Borton and Stollings.
 

http://www.twincities.com/2016/04/13/rachel-banham-aims-to-be-great-in-wnba/


When she walks across the stage at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut during Thursday’s WNBA draft, Rachel Banham will be carrying the confidence that she can fill any role her future team needs.

Everyone expects Banham to be able to score at the next level, but the Gophers senior All-American wants to prove she can play point guard and defend, as well.

“I’m primarily a point guard, because I’ve played that basically my whole life,” Banham said. “But both (guard spots) are completely fine with me. I’m not a bad defender, by any means. I’m ready for it and excited for the challenge.”
 

I do think that people forget she was primarily a distributor in high school. The first time I saw her play was, I think, her junior year in a tournament game in Northfield. She shot the occasional pull-up jumper but my recollection, at least, is that she was mostly dishing it two her team's two good posts, Cassie Rochel and the young woman who went to Marquette, I think, and whose name I don't recall (Ojolo?).
 



Rachel went fourth to the Connecticut Sun. Not even Marlene Stollings loves shooters more than new Sun Head Coach Curt Miller (formerly head coach at Bowling Green and (memorably and briefly) at Indiana). Miller spent last season as an assistant with the LA Sparks.
 

Banham is an excellent athlete who will adjust her game to the next level. I hope we get another point guard transferring back to the Lynx from the Sun just like we got Whalen.
 

http://www.courant.com/sports/basketball/connecticut-sun/hc-sun-wnba-draft-0415-20160414-story.html

From the Hartford Courant:

"I am so excited to play under Coach Miller who I played against in the Big Ten [when Miller was at Indiana]," Banham said. "The fan base is so incredible and I am ready to get going."


"Obviously, we addressed a lot of needs," Miller said. "We went into the draft wanting to improve our depth and the ability to space the floor for Chiney Ogwumike and Kelsey Bone [in the post]. And we wanted to improve our three-point shooting not only with guards but with stretch fours."We are excited about Morgan and we feel Rachel [who scored 60 points against Northwestern in February] was the best shooter in the entire draft. And we looked at Jones as a special, special player whose upside in the league could be great.
 



http://www.courant.com/sports/baske...mn-wnba-draft-uconn-0415-20160414-column.html

A bit more on Rachel: Miller says Rachel reminds him of, (Russian Olympian) Becky Hammon.


Banham was a hoot on the podium. She talked about coming out of Minnesota and being drafted No. 4 overall the same way Lindsay Whalen once came out of Minnesota and was drafted No. 4 overall. "Kinda weird there," Banham said, giving a Twilight Zone sort of sound.

She's a huge Kobe Bryant fan and stayed up late Wednesday night to watch him score 60 in his last NBA game. The Big Ten career points leader tied the NCAA record with 60 points of her own against Northwestern. She averaged a whopping 28.6 points.

"Kobe deserved every bit of those 60 points," Banham said. "I joked and said because I scored 60 that we're meant to be. It was incredible.

"Coach Miller said, 'I want you to score.' You know, I hear that, 'Absolutely, I'm coming there!'"


After playing zone the past few years, she knows playing man-to-man and the physicality of the game will be challenges.

"I'm going to end up on a poster a couple of times," Banham said. "But I'm going to work really hard."

"She reminds me a lot of a player I coached in the 90s — Becky Hammon," Miller said. "She can make shots from anywhere and is a crafty ball-handler. Let me make that clear. Rachel Banham is more than just a shooter."


For her part, Banham watched the three UConn players walk up the stage amid thunderous ovations after they were picked.

"The vibe was incredible," she said. "This is a championship state. The fans love basketball. They're invested. I'm so excited for it."
 

So the first player not from UCONN taken in the draft will begin her pro career at Connecticut.

tumblr_inline_nr899qWwo11qhe5f0_500.gif
 

Crazy that first three all played for the National Champion and MN lost in the 2nd round of the NIT. Will be interesting to see how her game translates in the WNBA.
 




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