SPOKANE, Wash. — A Sweet 16 loss to No. 1 seed USC marked the end of illustrious college careers for Kansas State All-Americans Serena Sundell and Ayoka Lee, but their futures remain wide open.
“I’m a big fan of Sundell,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I think she should be in somebody’s WNBA camp for sure, if not drafted.”
The 6-foot-2 point guard Sundell cemented herself as a pro, leading the nation in assists per game en route to becoming the Wildcats’ leader for assists in a career. Her senior stat line finished at 14.1 points, 7.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
“That’s a huge compliment,” Sundell said of Gottlieb’s comments. “I would just credit my coaching staff and teammates for helping me grow over the last four years. I’m a much better player, and I have a lot more confidence than the 18-year-old I was when I first stepped on campus. Credit to the people around me. I’m grateful to be a Wildcat.”
The WNBA draft, held on Monday, April 14 in New York, consists of three rounds. The first round is 12 picks, while the second and third have 13 selections each, totaling 38 individuals drafted.
Both Bleacher Report and USA Today have Sundell sneaking into the first round at No. 12 overall. In that situation, Sundell would team up with another versatile and tall point guard in consensus No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers.
Bueckers, whose No. 2 UConn team will face USC in the Elite Eight, averages 19.8 points, 4.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds as a similar player to Sundell.
“Sundell would be a steal to put behind Bueckers at No. 12 overall,” USA Today’s Meghan L. Hall said.
Even with expectation of being drafted, that doesn’t ensure a roster spot in the smaller league. Although it is expanding, the WNBA has 12 teams, each with a maximum roster size of 12 players, resulting in a total of 144 roster spots across the league.
With most players returning each year, 38 new roster spots aren’t always available across the league for the drafted rookies. An early round selection for Sundell would put the most security for a landing spot in the WNBA.
For Lee, who’s been featured in mock drafts in recent years, hasn’t established whether or not professional basketball is the next step in her life journey.
After seven years of battling injuries in college, the NCAA’s record holder for points in a single game has positioned herself to succeed off the floor as much as she has on the floor.
“She’s already a family therapist and already seeing clients,” head coach Jeff Mittie said. “She can see down the road. But she also knows how important it is to be in the moment.”
During the emotional moments after the loss, Lee didn’t have an answer for the future of her basketball career, saying, “That’s a tomorrow question.”
Lee has already earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in couples and family therapy. She is finishing a master’s degree in personal financial planning.
“Her and I will have a discussion,” Mittie said. “She told me, ‘Let’s get to when the season ends and we’ll have [a talk].’ And she will make a decision.”
Lee faced a similar situation last year, facing the option to go pro, return to K-State, or be content with leaving a lasting legacy and not lace up for another year. Lee chose Manhattan, and there’s no doubting she gave everything during her final season, helping the Wildcats reach a place it hadn’t been in 23 years.
Mittie put her commitment to the team, especially in times of adversity, into words.
“She got hurt Jan. 19 and there was a decision to be made,” he started. “With all the [injuries] she’s been through she could have said, ‘Hey, I’ve given it everything I’ve got.’ And nobody would have thought twice about it. She made that decision to have a procedure done so that she could come back. She comes back, and then we have another problem with the other foot. And at that point nobody would have said boo about it if she would have said again, ‘Hey, I’ve given everything I’ve got.’ She decides to have another [procedure] to be in these moments. And I think it’s just simply because she loves her teammates, she loves her school, she loves Manhattan. And she wanted this, it hadn’t happened in her career, and she was going to do everything she could.”
The future may hold different paths for the two Wildcats, but both leave legacies destined for the rafters at Bramlage Coliseum.
