Louisville basketball: New York Liberty take back-to-back Cards in WNBA Draft

The New York Liberty continued its trend of selecting former Louisville basketball stars during Friday’s WNBA Draft. Why Cards fans will soon have a new favorite team.

There aren’t many pipelines between college and professional teams, but try telling that to the New York Liberty. With the 12th and 13th picks, the organization selected Louisville basketball seniors Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook, respectively. The two will join former Cardinal star Asia Durr up in the Big Apple and 2020 top-overall pick Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu.

Jones finished second on the team in scoring with 14.1 PPG on 53.9 percent shooting, trailing only Dana Evans.

She also averaged 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.5 steals per contest. Known for her extreme toughness and contagious personality, she was an integral part of the Louisville program over a span of four years that saw two Elite Eight and one Final Four appearance.

The Tallahassee native was an1,000 point scorer and appeared in 144 games, which is the most of any player in program history. As a senior, Jones was named to the All-ACC and All-ACC Defensive First Teams.

Shook poured in 10.1 PPG and 8.1 RPG on a nightly basis in the 2019-20 campaign. She holds the record for most blocks in a career with 223, after averaging 2.7 BPG as a senior. Shook made the All-ACC First Team, while also being named he conference’s Defensive Player of the Year this past season.

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The duo’s class won a record 125 games, while only losing 19 in the process. Jones and Shook become the 10th and 11th respective WNBA draft picks since Jeff Walz became Louisville’s head coach in 2007.

Furthermore, they enter an elite group of players in program history to be selected in the top-20 of draft; joining Lori Nero (2003), Angel McCoughtry (2009), Shoni Schimmel (2014). Myisha Hines-Allen (2018), and Asia Durr (2019).