The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
04.17.2020 | Women's Basketball
Holmes selected by Seattle with the 19th pick and Sutton by Washington with the 36th pick.
Texas seniors Joyner Holmes and Sug Sutton were selected in the 2020 WNBA Draft, which took place Friday on ESPN. Holmes was the 19th overall pick by the Seattle Storm and Sutton was the 36th overall pick by the Washington Mystics.
Holmes and Sutton became the 11th and 12th players in program history to be selected in the WNBA Draft. It marked the first time since 2005 that multiple Texas players have been drafted in the same year. In total, seven players from the Big 12 Conference were drafted on Friday.
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With the 19th overall pick of the 2020 @WNBA Draft, the @seattlestorm select Joyner Holmes! 🤘@JoynerTooTall | #HookEm pic.twitter.com/9nuKUsjwaH
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) April 18, 2020
At Texas, Holmes played in 114 career games with 92 starts. She finished her career ranked 29th in school history in scoring with 1,270 career points. She recorded 27 career double-doubles and, this past fall, set the Texas school record for most consecutive double-doubles with seven. Holmes scored in double figures in 70 of her 114 career games at Texas.
Holmes earned recognition to All-Big 12 teams three times in her career [2017 First Team, 2019 Honorable Mention and 2020 Honorable Mention]. She was the 2017 Freshman of the Year in the Big 12 Conference. For her Texas career, she averaged 11.1 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 0.8 blocks per game. She shot 42.5 percent from the field.
In her senior year of 2019-20, Holmes was a Honorable Mention All-Big 12 Conference selection and a top-10 finalist for the Katrina McClain Award, recognizing the nation's top power forward. She tied for the team lead in scoring with 13.1 points per game and was second in rebounding with 8.7 boards per game. Holmes charted 14 double-doubles on the season, which ranked 26th nationally, and scored in double figures on 20 occasions during the year. She ranked seventh in the Big 12 Conference [all games combined] with 8.7 rebounds per game and was 12th in field-goal percentage with a 40.9 percent clip.
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With the 36th overall pick in the 2020 @WNBA Draft, the @WashMystics select Sug Sutton! 🤘@kaorie15 | #HookEm pic.twitter.com/8z2KrnQdvf
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) April 18, 2020
At Texas, Sutton played in 131 career games with 65 starts. She finished her career ranked ninth in program history with 419 career assists. Sutton scored 1,091 career points, which ranks 39th in school history.
Sutton was named to a pair of All-Big 12 Conference teams [2019 First Team, 2020 Second Team], in addition to being named to the 2019 Big 12 All-Tournament Team. She also was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 Conference selection. Sutton was a top-10 finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, recognizing the nation's top point guard, in each of the last two seasons. For her Texas career, Sutton averaged 8.3 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game and 3.2 assists per game.
As a senior in 2019-20, Sutton was a Second-Team All-Big 12 Conference selection. She played in all 30 games with 29 starts, averaging a squad-best 29.9 minutes per game. She led the Longhorns and ranked fourth in the Big 12 Conference [all games combined] in assists per game with 4.3. She also ranked sixth in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.7. Sutton was the team's leader in steals per game with 1.8, which ranked eighth in the Big 12. She scored in double figures on 16 occasions, including two 20-point performances. She played 30 or more minutes in 17 games during the season.
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POST-WNBA DRAFT QUOTES
Dan Hughes
Seattle Storm Head Coach
"We were very high on Joyner. When you see her play, you see someone that is kind of unique. She has a pro body. She moves really quickly and strongly. She has a face-up game. There's no denying she has a big upside. We wanted to work with that upside. We were really pleased to give her an opportunity and get her in the second round."
Mike Thibault
Washington Mystics Head Coach
"Sug has the right demeanor to play in our league. She's got some things to learn, but she knows how to push the tempo."
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The WNBA has postponed the start of the 2020 regular season, which was originally scheduled for May 15. The WNBA continues to scenario plan regarding new dates.
| Year | Player | Round | Overall Pick | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Edna Campbell | 1st | 10 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 2000 | Edwina Brown | 1st | 3 | Detroit Shock $ |
| 2004 | Stacy Stephens | 3rd | 37 | Houston Comets # |
| 2005 | Jamie Carey | 3rd | 31 | Phoenix Mercury * |
| 2005 | Heather Schreiber | 3rd | 39 | Los Angeles Sparks |
| 2007 | Tiffany Jackson | 1st | 5 | New York Liberty |
| 2010 | Brittainey Raven | 3rd | 33 | Atlanta Dream |
| 2015 | Nneka Enemkpali | 3rd | 26 | Seattle Storm |
| 2016 | Imani McGee-Stafford | 1st | 10 | Chicago Sky |
| 2018 | Ariel Atkins | 1st | 7 | Washington Mystics |
| 2020 | Joyner Holmes | 2nd | 19 | Seattle Storm |
| 2020 | Sug Sutton | 3rd | 36 | Washington Mystics |
$ - 1st collegian taken in 2000 WNBA Draft
# - later traded to Detroit Shock
* - later signed with Connecticut Sun
