2020 WNBA Draft: Megan Walker selected No. 9 overall by New York Liberty

With the ninth overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, the New York Liberty selected UConn star Megan Walker.

The Liberty are entering a new era after trading away Tina Charles and taking Sabrina Ionescu with the No. 1 overall pick. Walker will also join Kia Nurse and Kiah Stokes as former Huskies in New York.

While Walker is a bit of a wildcard since she left school early, her potential was too high to pass up at No. 9. She only started to come into her own as a player this past season and became a force for the Huskies, winning AAC Player of the Year while becoming a consensus All-American.

Though there are concerns over Walker’s performance in big games this season with UConn, she won’t be asked to carry the load as a rookie. With better talent surrounding her, Walker can focus on what she does best — three-point shooting and rebounding — as she develops the rest of her game.

“In terms of Megan, I think the bigger thing is where is she going to go and what is she going to be asked to do,” Rebecca Lobo said on a pre-draft conference call. “Right now in terms of her game translating to the WNBA, she can go out there and if it’s a team that can put her in the places where she really thrives, just go out there, Megan, and make some open threes for us, she’ll really succeed because she does that really well.”

Walker is the 39th UConn player selected in the WNBA Draft and the 21st top-10 pick. With Minnesota taking Dangerfield 16th overall, they are the 13th set of teammates drafted in the same year.

With Walker and Dangerfield, UConn tied Tennessee for the most WNBA Draft picks of any school all-time with 40.