WNBA: Everything you need to know ahead of draft night

The 2025 WNBA Draft is almost here!

On Monday night, 38 prospects will hear their names called by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City, a first step towards becoming part of the W’s 156.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of one of the league’s biggest nights:

Who will be there?

16 soon-to-rookies were invited to attend the draft, headlined by newly-minted national champion and presumptive No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers. While other hopefuls might be in attendance, pulling the move that Kate Martin made famous last year, the league’s selected 16, in alphabetical order, include:

Georgia Amoore, 5-foot-6 guard (Kentucky)
Sarah Ashlee Barker, 6-foot-0 guard (Alabama)
Paige Bueckers, 6-foot-0 guard (UConn)
Sonia Citron, 6-foot-0 guard (Notre Dame)
Sania Feagin, 6-foot-3 forward (South Carolina)
Kiki Iriafen, 6-foot-3 forward (USC)
Aziaha James, 5-foot-10 guard (NC State)
Dominique Malonga, 6-foot-6 center (Lyon ASVEL)
Aneesah Morrow, 6-foot-1 forward (LSU)
Te-Hina Paopao, 5-foot-9 guard (South Carolina)
Saniya Rivers, 6-foot-1 guard (NC State)
Madison Scott, 6-foot-2 wing (Ole Miss)
Shyanne Sellers, 6-foot-2 guard (Maryland)
Ajša Sivka, 6-foot-3 forward (Tarbes Gespe Bigorre)
Serena Sundell, 6-foot-2 guard (Kansas State)
Hailey Van Lith, 5-foot-9 guard (TCU)

Also in attendance at The Shed at Hudson Yards will be a fortunate group of fans. For the second-consecutive year, fans will get to see their college faves become professionals, although they had to shell out at least $99 per ticket to do so, double the price of the general admission ticket for the 2024 WNBA Draft, which was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

What will they be wearing?

Long gone are the days when the WNBA forced future stars to dress like aspiring middle managers. Thankfully, players now can show off their own style as they officially enter the league.

Catch everyone’s fits on the Orange Carpet, where the Los Angeles Sparks’ Rickea Jackson, who pioneered an outfit change at last year’s draft, and Hannah O’Flynn will host the Orange Carpet Live, which will stream on the WNBA’s YouTube channel and in the WNBA App starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Who will end up where?

Figuring out the priorities and preferences of WNBA general managers is an unenviable task. Fortunately, our Eric Nemchock is up to it. Here’s his latest mock draft.

Despite speculation about potential drama (or executives from other teams trying to speak it into existence), Paige Bueckers will become a Dallas Wing with the No. 1 overall pick. Howard Megdal, who has provided insight into these rumblings at The IX Newsletter, has indicated that Team Bueckers is down with Dallas.

That doesn’t mean the draft lacks intrigue. Far from it. Catch up on the rest of Swish Appeal’s draft coverage, where we took a stab at analyzing the choices facing teams with top-10 picks:

Where to watch?

ESPN will exclusively broadcast the 2025 WNBA Draft, beginning with a special edition of WNBA Countdown at 7 p.m. ET. The draft will follow at 7:30 P.M. ET.