Littles prepares for WNBA draft

With the economy struggling, numerous classmates of Virginia forward Lyndra Littles will be envious today.
The same could potentially be said for center Aisha Mohammed.
The duo are expected to earn jobs today, being selected during the WNBA Draft, which starts at 3 p.m. and will be televised initially on ESPN2.
The three-round draft will encompass 39 picks, two of which should be former Cavaliers.
Littles, who led Virginia in scoring this season with 20.5 points per game, is expected to be taken in the first round. In fact, in the final mock draft on WNBA.com, Littles was projected to be taken 11th overall by the Detroit Shock.
“[Coach] Bill Laimbeer has a tendency to have very good players drop to him at the No. 11 spot — Ivory Latta in 2007, Tasha Humphrey in 2008 — and this year should be no different as Virginia’s Lyndra Littles remains on the board as the Shock make their selection,” WNBA.com writer Brian Martin
proclaimed. “While Detroit could use some young backcourt talent to help Katie Smith and Deanna Nolan get some rest, I see them taking Littles here and either using her off of the bench or parlaying her into another player like they did with Latta and Humphrey the past two years.”
Littles improved her stock this season as she showcased the ability to play on the perimeter as a small forward and earned one of 15 invites to today’s draft festivities in Secaucus, N.J.
“The people that have been here to see her spoke the most about how Lyndra appeared fearless and that she would attack and create shots for her teammates,” Virginia assistant coach Jeff House said. “You hear WNBA people saying that a 4 can’t always try to be a 3. Lyndra did that.
“She put in a lot of extra time in the gym to work on her shooting and it paid off.”
Mohammed, who
transferred in from Central Arizona Junior College, was the only player in the ACC to average a double-double, averaging 12.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest.
At 6-foot-3, however, Mohammed will be a tad shorter than many of the current post players in the WNBA.
“She is a little bit small for your prototypical WNBA player,” House said. “But she is very strong and she can defend against the best post players in that league.”
Both will need excellent showings in training camp as the WNBA’s 13 teams have been forced to downsize rosters from 13 players to 11.