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WNBA Draft stock watch: Analyzing prospects Lauren Betts, Azzi Fudd, Raven Johnson post-Final Four

· Yahoo Sports

UCLA had an outstanding Final Four, first beating Texas and then dominating South Carolina on the way to the school’s first NCAA women’s basketball title. That championship was won thanks to the skills of an outstanding senior and grad student class. Gabriela Jaquez led the way in the title game. Charlisse Leger-Walker has led the team in assists and steals all season long. Throughout the tournament, Gianna Kneepkens showed an uncanny ability to hit a big shot at the exact right time. And Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice showed why WNBA fans are already hoping they will get drafted to their teams.

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More than anything, this tournament run showed that UCLA, a dormant program for decades, can both win and develop talent. Now, several Bruins are poised to earn spots in the WNBA, and, thanks to the new CBA, make much more money than any previous rookie class. Now, with the WNBA draft less than a week away, take a final look at how the draft-eligible stars of the NCAA tournament did and how their recent performances might have affected their draft stock. 

Winning a national title and being named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player can be the start to a very memorable April for Lauren Betts, as she is expected to become one of the top draft picks next week. She is one of those rare players who has loads of potential for the right WNBA team to develop, and the size and skill to play right away when she’s drafted. South Carolina players even remarked on her growth from the Final Four last season, showing her ceiling can still rise.

“She's 6-7. She has improved from last year. She's patient. I mean, she got, what, four seniors around her. She's a senior herself. Experience goes a long way,” Gamecocks star Raven Johnson said after Sunday’s loss. 

She finished her senior season averaging nearly a double-double — 20.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. During the Final Four, though, Betts showed she’s much more than statistics. She’s a leader who can make her teammates shine. Which WNBA team doesn’t need that? 

Like Betts, Kiki Rice showed in the tournament that she can be an asset for one of the lottery teams in the WNBA draft. What stood out about her play during the tournament was how good she is at facilitating scoring for the bigs on the court with her. Playing with Betts (6-7) and Angela Dugalic (6-4), Rice showed she is a playmaker who can get the ball inside to the post players who are well-positioned to score. 

Not much went right for Raven Johnson and her teammates in the national final. As Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said, “We got whupped.” Funny enough, from the box score, it looked like Johnson’s performances against UConn and UCLA were nearly identical. She had 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal against the Bruins, and 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block against the Huskies. 

But there was a big difference in her play in the national semifinal. Against UConn, Johnson was a defensive marvel. No matter who she was assigned to, Johnson was looking for opportunities to disrupt Connecticut’s offense. Both Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd were stymied by Johnson. In the third quarter, she had a steal and layup that ignited the Gamecocks. Scouts will look at the totality of Johnson’s career in South Carolina, and not just one poor game against a really good team, so it’s unlikely her draft stock took a big hit after this past weekend. 

There’s no way around it — Azzi Fudd’s last game in a UConn uniform was awful. She scored eight points as South Carolina’s defense bottled her up for every minute she was on the court. Someone who had never watched her play before might question why she is projected so highly in mock drafts. But one game doesn’t define a career as accomplished as Fudd’s. She averaged 17.3 points and 2.5 steals a game in her final season in Storrs. Fudd can score, and she has shown over her years at UConn that she can complement her teammates well. Her ability to make a mark immediately was evident during the tournament, and should ensure she’s still a top-five WNBA pick. 

The Horned Frogs were knocked out of the tournament with a loss to South Carolina in the Elite Eight, so Olivia Miles didn’t play during Final Four weekend. She did, however, make a mark in her Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances. Miles scored 28 points in the win over Virginia, shooting an unreal 11-14 from the field. Even in the loss to South Carolina, with so much of the Gamecocks’ defensive attention on her, Miles scored 18 points. She’s one of the best guards available in the draft, and her run in the tournament showed she can be a special player in the WNBA. Expect her to be drafted high in the first round.

It’s hard to imagine LSU basketball without Flau’jae Johnson, as she has been the heart and soul of the Tigers since she arrived on campus. She won a national title and was named an All-American twice in her time in Baton Rouge. Her final game in an LSU uniform was a loss to Duke in the Sweet 16, where she scored 13 points. Johnson’s output was much better in the first two games of the tournament — scoring 24 and 25 points — putting her issues with inconsistency front and center. The right WNBA team will be able to pull out Johnson’s incredible potential and help her contribute in every game. But it didn’t help her draft stock that her up-and-down play was on display over just three tournament games. 

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