WNBA Draft proof positive Utah hoops had good year

Who said this wasn't a great basketball year in Utah?

Maybe people were just looking in the wrong places.

The annual pro basketball draft was held this week and three of the top 17 picks were from Utah colleges. That would be the annual WNBA Draft, not the NBA. The one that comes after St. Patrick's Day but before the Jazz are out of the playoff race.

This year the state of Utah produced two first-round picks, one second-round pick, and fell just short of a trip to the Final Four. The Utes' quarterfinal appearance was a first for any Mountain West Conference team, ending in an overtime loss to eventual national champion Maryland.

"Fact is, Utah almost went to the Final Four. People didn't think they were that good, but they were," said former WNBA star and Utah native Natalie Williams. "They may not have been all that fast and quick, but that didn't stop them from being a great team."

She continued, "The bottom line for Utah is that they've always had a great program, but this year the whole world saw it."

The Utes' Shona Thorburn was selected No. 7 overall by the Minnesota Lynx. Teammate Kim Smith was picked 13th by the Sacramento Monarchs. BYU forward Ambrosia Anderson, the third pick of the second round (17th overall) went to the Lynx, too, after being chosen by the Detroit Shock and traded.

It was a ground-breaking draft, perhaps not nationally, but at least for Utah college players. Never have three local women been selected.

Thorburn, Smith and Anderson were the only three players taken from the Mountain West Conference this year. (ESPN-2 commentator Nancy Lieberman called her Shawna Thornburn. But apparently she liked what she saw — by any name. She compared her to Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash).

Utah and Louisiana State were the only schools that had two players picked in the first round.

For local appeal, the 2006 draft rivaled the 1981 NBA Draft, in which the Ute men's program supplied the No. 5 (Danny Vranes) and No. 8 (Tom Chambers) picks, while BYU contributed the No. 31 pick (Danny Ainge).

So is Utah about to become another women's basketball factory like Tennessee or Connecticut? Is "You go, girl!" about to replace "How 'bout that Jazz?"

More to the point, will high draft picks from Utah become commonplace?