Who are the top college basketball prospects in the 2017 WNBA Draft?

NCAA Women’s Basketball: Top 10 prospects in 2017 WNBA Draft

Mar 24, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Washington Huskies guard Kelsey Plum (10) drives to the basket in front of Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs guard Jazzmun Holmes (10) during the first quarter in the semifinals of the Oklahoma City Regional of the women's 2017 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mar 24, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Washington Huskies guard Kelsey Plum (10) drives to the basket in front of Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs guard Jazzmun Holmes (10) during the first quarter in the semifinals of the Oklahoma City Regional of the women’s 2017 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

With the NCAA women’s basketball season having come to a recent conclusion, many of the star players have quickly turned their attention to the WNBA draft.

For the last 21 years, women’s collegiate basketball players have had the same opportunity as their male counterparts, which is to continue their basketball careers at the highest level in the WNBA.

While the league doesn’t generally receive the acclaim or recognition as their counterparts, the WNBA has been great for women’s basketball — and this is not only about equality.

What the WNBA has done is that it has given females a goal to shoot for, which, in turn, has dramatically increased the participation and quality of basketball, particularly at the collegiate level.

Take the 2016-17 NCAA basketball season, for example. This past season was incredibly exciting and dramatic. The UConn Huskies rolled through the regular season as they extended their win streak to an incredible 111 games, Washington’s Kelsey Plum broke the women’s NCAA all-time scoring record, and Mississippi State’s improbable championship game appearance was amazing. Throw in South Carolina earning its first national championship along with surprising NCAA Tournament runs by Quinnipiac and Oregon, and you can see the women’s game is better than ever.

However, this 2017 WNBA draft could be one of the weakest in years. That is not to say that there are no star players, it is just that there have been so many dominant players in the prior drafts. Also, several top players decided to bypass this year’s draft and return to school.

Next: NCAA Basketball: Early preseason top 25 for the 2017-18 season

The 2017 WNBA draft consists of 36 picks over three rounds. It will take place in New York on April 13. The San Antonio Stars have the number one overall pick and are expected to select Kelsey Plum. ESPN and ESPNU will televise the event.

The rest of the article looks at my top-10 WNBA draft prospects.

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