Where will Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore be drafted? National media weighs in
If all goes as projected Monday night, Georgia Amoore will become the fifth Kentucky Wildcat to be selected in the first round of the WNBA draft.
Joining UK greats Rhyne Howard (2022, first overall), Evelyn Akhator (2017, third overall), A’dia Mathies (2013, 10th overall) and Victoria Dunlap (2011, 11th overall), Amoore’s selection would cement her status among the program’s top talents after just one season in Lexington.
When her name is called in New York, Amoore will also become the eighth player in Kentucky women’s basketball history to be drafted into the WNBA.
After opting to delay her entry to the professional ranks in 2024, Amoore finds herself in a draft class featuring fewer point guards than some experts and fans may have predicted.
Similar to Amoore’s decision last year, Notre Dame veteran Olivia Miles — expected at one point to be a first-round pick in this year’s draft — opted to instead spend her final season of eligibility elsewhere, transferring to TCU for next season. Texas’ Rori Harmon, another familiar name on several way-too-early mock drafts, will play floor general for the Longhorns one last season before she declares for the WNBA draft.
Though the class is thinner than originally projected, there are still formidable point guards for the taking.
Connecticut icon, reigning Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year winner and newly crowned national champion Paige Bueckers is widely expected to go first overall to Dallas — any other move from the Wings’ front office would not only be surprising, but puzzling. At a recent WNBA pre-draft media availability, ESPN analyst and former UConn Husky and WNBA great Rebecca Lobo said she doesn’t think Curt Miller, executive vice president and general manager of the Wings, had “gotten a call about moving number one.”
“I think people just assume that number one is untouchable this year,” Lobo said. “Because Paige Bueckers is that kind of a player.”
In addition to Bueckers, the field also boasts Maryland star Shyanne Sellers, TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, Kansas State’s Serena Sundell, Norfolk’s State’s Diamond Johnson and Alabama’s Zaay Green, among others.
Amoore’s height — 5-foot-6, which not only makes her the shortest player invited to attend this year’s draft, but the second-shortest player among the league’s 49 self-published drafted prospects behind only the 5-5 Johnson — continues to be a point of conversation for critics. But ESPN analyst and former Tennessee guard Andraya Carter spoke to why Amoore will work in the WNBA just as she did in the Southeastern Conference.
“She is an absolute point guard, a leader on the floor, an extension of her coach,” Carter said. “I think that she has a bounce and an athleticism and a speed to her game that will translate immediately. She finds her teammates. I think watching her play in the SEC this year more than anything, and have to create offense against different schemes and different SEC athletic defenses and coverages gives a lot of GMs and coaches a ton of positive feeling about her playing in the W.
“At times, she had to create something out of nothing, and didn’t necessarily have pieces around her that gave her open looks, but she is a floor general. She’s a facilitator. She plays much bigger than she is. So I think there’s a ton of upside to being a true point guard, and I think there are a lot of teams that are missing a true point guard. They might have a combo guard playing at the point, but I think there’s a lot of intrigue for a lot of teams for Georgia Amoore with the way that she played, her connection to her coach and her ability to completely control the floor for her team.”
In one season with the Wildcats, Amoore earned a place as a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award, as well as earning Second Team All-America honors, the ESPN Transfer of the Year Award, and being named the SEC Newcomer of the Year and an All-SEC First Teamer.
The Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, native averaged 19.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.0 steal and 0.4 blocks in 36.7 minutes per game across 31 contests. Not only did no other SEC player average more playing time but, this past season, Amoore also joined NCAA greats Caitlin Clark (Iowa) and Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon) as the only Division I women’s basketball players to record at least 2,300 career points and 800 career assists.
National media members project Amoore’s destination
Per ESPN’s Eric Moody, Amoore “would be an excellent addition” to the rebuilding Connecticut Sun, now entering their first season under new coach Rachid Meziane. The Sun moved on from former head coach Stephanie White — now leading the Indiana Fever — in October after two seasons with a combined record of 55-25, including back-to-back WNBA semifinals appearances.
“The former Kentucky guard is a great decision-maker on the court and excels in the pick-and-roll,” Moody said in ESPN’s “Five questions before Bueckers goes No. 1,” published the morning of the draft.
Bleacher Report’s Joseph Zucker also projected Amoore to the Sun — which holds picks 7 and 8 in the first round — in his final WNBA mock draft, plublished Sunday.
ESPN’s final mock draft, published Monday morning by longtime expert Michael Voepel, has Amoore landing with the Los Angeles Sparks as the ninth pick.
Amoore was also projected to the Sparks by NBC Sports’ Meghan McKeown.
CBS Sports’ Jack Maloney predicted in his Monday mock draft that Amoore would go 10th to the Chicago Sky, who secured their second first-round pick (No. 11) on Sunday, courtesy of a trade with the Minnesota Lynx. The Sky, the Washington Mystics, Connecticut and Dallas stand alone as franchises with at least two first-round picks.
“The Sky found their franchise bigs last year in Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese,” Maloney wrote. “Now, they need a point guard who can grow alongside them and make their lives easier. That’s Amoore, who can easily create shots for herself and others, and finished third in the country in assists last season. There are some questions about her size (5-foot-6) and ability to hold up defensively, but she’s an electric offensive player and would have the perfect role model to learn from in Courtney Vandersloot.”
Kentucky Wildcats drafted to the WNBA
2000: Shantia Owens — Fourth round, 53rd overall, to the Phoenix Mercury.
2011: Victoria Dunlap — First round, 11th overall, to the Washington Mystics.
2013: A’dia Mathies — First round, 10th overall, to the Los Angeles Sparks.
2014: DeNesha Stallworth — Third round, 25th overall, to the Connecticut Sun.
2017: Evelyn Akhator — First round, third overall, to the Dallas Wings.
2017: Makayla Epps — Third round, 33rd overall, to the Chicago Sky.
2022: Rhyne Howard — First round, first overall, to the Atlanta Dream.
2025 WNBA Draft
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday
Where: The Shed in New York City
TV: ESPN
First-round draft order: Dallas, Seattle, Washington, Washington, Golden State, Washington, Connecticut, Connecticut, Los Angeles, Chicago, Chicago, Dallas.
Format: Three rounds (38 total picks)
This story was originally published April 14, 2025 at 3:28 PM.
