Baylor fans everywhere rejoiced on Monday as three of the Baylor Women’s Basketball athletes were selected during the 2022 WNBA Draft for only the second time in program history! A Baylor Women’s athlete has been chosen in the draft for the past seven consecutive years. Senior F NaLyssa Smith was the 2nd overall pick and senior C Queen Egbo was 10th with both of the players going to the Indiana Fever. Graduate transfer G Jordan Lewis was chosen in the second round as the 24th pick to the Connecticut Sun.
Prior to and throughout the season Smith was considered the obvious No. 1 pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft, but that honor instead went to Kentucky G Rhynne Howard. Smith averaged 22.1 points and 11.3 rebounds over the course of the season and she was named an All-American by seven different outlets with first-team picks by Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, the Associated Press, the USBWA, the John R. Wooden Award and the WBCA. According to Baylor Athletics’ Jerry Hill (papa), “She became the 10th first-round pick in Baylor history and the third top-two pick in program history alongside Brittney Griner (1st in 2013 to the Phoenix Mercury) and Odyssey Sims (2nd in 2014 to the Tulsa Shock).” Smith earned the WBCA Wade Trophy as the National Player of the Year and the Katrina McClain Award Power Forward of the Year. A much-improved athlete over the past few years, Egbo finished her senior year averaging 49.8% of field goals (152-305) with 31 assists, 63 blocks, 30 steals, and 384 points (averaging 11.0 per game). The dynamic duo of Smith and Egbo will surely cause havoc for opposing WNBA teams in the coming years! Lewis is joining former Bear Dijonai Carrington in Connecticut as Baylor’s only second round pick of the 2022 WNBA Draft. The G averaged 43% (128-298) of field goals and 38.7% (55-142) of 3s with 185 assists, 7 blocks, 41 steals, and 413 points for an average of 11.8 points/game. The future is bright for Baylor in the WNBA!
