Aussie Set to Star in WNBA Draft
Georgia Amoore has been invited to this week’s sold out WNBA Draft night
The WNBA Draft takes place on Tuesday morning Australian time in New York, an event which has taken on a bigger profile in the last several years. In fact, the unprecedented demand for access to the sold out event this year has seen ticket prices double from 2024 when game changer Caitlin Clark was called out as the number one pick by Indiana Fever.
Like last year with Clark and her teammate Aaliyah Boston the year before, there seems to be a fairly clear cut favourite for the number one pick. UConn College Championship winner Paige Bueckers seems a formality to have her name read out by Dallas Wings with the first pick, but what happens after that is anyone’s guess.
Added to the intrigue is that with several new franchises entering the league over the next couple of seasons, and discussions around player pay and the CBA, franchises are not just selecting players for immediate success, but for future planning. The likes of Toronto may have access to choose players from other franchises, just like Golden State Valkyries were permitted to do for 2025.
Australia looks set to have another player in the rookie class, with guard Georgia Amoore invited to the draft and projected by many analysts to be a top 10 pick. Originally from country Victoria, Georgia has just finished a stellar college career, firstly at Virginia Tech and recently as a senior at Kentucky.
Georgia will be one of the shorter players in the draft, which some see as a liability, but her skillset has impressed many good judges over the past few years. US team Olympic gold medalist Chelsea Gray, who plays the same point guard position as Georgia, commented after her final game recently,
“been a fan of Amoore for a while now!”
Another fan is US champion Kelsey Plum, who invited Georgia to her 2023 ‘Dawg Class’, a 12 athlete camp aimed at helping NCAA athletes transaction to pro basketball. Georgia has been invited to the camp again in 2025.
Georgia finished her senior year averaging 19.6 points per game and 6.9 assists, including a massive 43 point game, the equal best in Kentucky history, in one of her final college games against Sweet 16 team Oklahoma.
HER WAY interviewed Georgia back in 2023 for an episode of HER WAY HER STORY. You can listen to that episode here.
https://herwaysportsmedia.substack.com/p/georgia-amoore-8f9?utm_source=publication-search
Provided that Georgia’s name is read out on Tuesday, she’ll continue Australia’s recent run of WNBA draftees. Unlike most of those drafted in the past few years, Georgia would be ready to enter the WNBA system immediately, having been in the college system at 24 years old.
Of the other recent Aussie WNBA draftees, just two have been from the college system - Amy Atwell (2022) and Jaz Shelley (2024), while the others have been young stars from the WNBL - Shyla Heal (2021), Jade Melbourne (2022), Shaneice Swain (2023), plus Nyadiew Puoch (pictured below) and Izzy Borlase (2024). Of those, all but Heal opted not to go to the WNBA immediately, instead choosing to spend more time in Australia building themselves up physically and working on aspects of their game. Swain for example, is only heading to LA this year, having spent two years overcoming injuries and improving her game under experienced coach Guy Molloy in Sydney, while having regular contact and even visits from Los Angeles management.
So where would Georgia Amoore end up? This will come down to a combination of the needs of specific teams who are looking to add ‘pieces’ to their squads, but also simply who is the next best available player. Most experts have Georgia around the 8-12 pick mark, as several senior players who were expected to nominate for the draft are opting to play one more year of college basketball (rules around eligibility are a little different over the past few years due to COVID essentially wiping out a season for many athletes).
Here’s a look at the draft order, and other Aussies currently aligned to those franchises:
Dallas Wings
Seattle Storm (Ezi Magbegor)
Washington Mystics (Jade Melbourne)
Washington Mystics (Jade Melbourne)
Golden State Valkyries (Chloe Bibby, Steph Talbot)
Washington Mystics (Jade Melbourne)
Connecticut Sun
Connecticut Sun
LA Sparks (Shaneice Swain, Anneli Maley)
Chicago Sky (Bec Allen)
Chicago Sky
Dallas Wings
LA Sparks at pick 9 would see Georgia with two other Aussies at training camp, Shaneice Swain and Anneli Maley. More significantly, mentor Kelsey Plum is a new star recruit for LA, and Georgia may benefit as a bench point guard under Kelsey.
Chicago also have an experienced new recruit in 2022 US World Cup gold medalist Ariel Atkins as well as Australia’s own Bec Allen, and with some exciting young ‘bigs’ in Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, Georgia would be a fun addition to Sky.
2024 WNBA finalists Minnesota have quality and experience in most positions, including Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride, and Opal Alanna Smith fresh of a career best season, and given Amoore plays similarly to starting guard Courtney Williams, she may be a good addition there under US national coach Cheryl Reeve.
So who else can we expect to have their name called on draft night?
With Notre Dame star Olivia Miles, who most expected to be the second pick, among those deciding to stay on at college, other names will move up the board.
Some of those invited to draft night include -
Hailey van Lith (TCU), who represented the USA at last year’s Paris Olympics in 3x3 Basketball
2023 National Champion and effort player Aneesa Morrow (LSU)
Kiki Iriafen (USC), who helped her team through to the final four after the ACL injury to Player of the Year Juju Watkins
South Carolina’s heart and soul player Te-Fina Paopao
human highlight reel Aziaha James (NC State)
Sarah Ashlee Barker (Alabama), a Caitlin Clark-esque guard who produced an incredible 45pt game in her final college outing in a double OT loss.
France’s Dominique Malonga, who is not from a US college background, is predicted by many to be second pick after Paige Bueckers.
There are a number of other Aussies just finishing up college careers who have declared for the draft including Kelsey Rees, Agnes Emma-Nnopu and Georgia Woolley. Regardless of whether their names are called, what is clear is that with the emergence of more teams and more leagues, and with more on the way in coming seasons, there are more opportunities for female players to establish pro careers. That includes Australia, which has a revitalised and potentially expanded local WNBL league on the way - a competition that the world takes seriously.