It’s a quick transition for WNBA rookies. One day, you’re playing in the NCAA tournament with your college team, and a week or two later, you’re drafted and officially a professional basketball player. A week after that, you’re in training camp for your rookie WNBA season. In just a month’s time, you’ve finished college, started your career, and your life has done a complete 180-degree turn.
Due to that, it’s completely reasonable for a rookie to be taking it all in at training camp. They have been thrown into a completely new system with new coaches and new teammates, now a tiny fish in a vast ocean. They are also living out their dreams, finally playing in the WNBA — they all look a little wide-eyed and in awe for the first weeks of the season.
WNBA training camp has just started, but multiple rookies have already experienced Media Day and are adapting to their new roles. The Washington Mystics had three of the first six draft picks, getting Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, and Georgia Amoore in the process. The Mystics are in the middle of a rebuild, and these rookies are hoping to be a part of the next generation of this franchise.
“It’s been competitive going against the bigs that have been in the league for a long time and having to earn my keep,” said Iriafen at Mystics media day. “We’re learning a lot and our coaches do a great job of making sure that we understand everything.”
Training camp is a short amount of time, and players need to prove themselves. To reinforce to coaches that the skills these WNBA teams scouted them for are still there, while also trying to show off their versatility. For Iriafen, that means showing Washington that she can shoot three-pointers.
“My coaches encourage me to shoot my three,” Iriafen said about her training camp goals. “I’ve been shooting it a lot in practice and staying late to make my shots. I know that’s key in this league, if I’m playing the 4, maybe the 3.”
