It’s funny how sports work. The WNBA Draft was held on Monday, April 15th, and I absolutely love what the Las Vegas Aces were able to do, especially without a first-round pick. The Aces had four picks in this draft, with three picks being in the second round (Dyaisha Fair, Kate Martin, Elizabeth Kitley) and one in the third (Angel Jackson). In my mind, the rich got richer by being able to get Fair and Kitley in the second. Fair was the third leading scorer in D-1 basketball. She provides a spark that can be really good off the bench, but with the depth of the Aces, who knows how it will turn out.
The Aces were also able to pull off drafting the three-time ACC player of the year, Elizabeth Kitley. Although Kitley will miss the season with an ACL injury, just imagine starting next season with a player who would have hands down been a first-round pick. While some may not see the beauty of the Aces’ draft, I look at it like this: the defending champions have a stacked roster and were able to pull off two first-round talents. With that being said, Dear Aces, I love your draft.
No. 16 Dyaisha FairThe 2024 Associated Press All-America third team honoree who hails from Rochester, New York, played three seasons for Buffalo starting in 2019-20, before transferring to Syracuse ahead of the 2022-23 season. Over 153 career games, Fair averaged 22.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists, while shooting 35% from 3-point range. Fair is a four-time all-conference first team honoree, two each in the MAC and ACC, and named to the 2020 All-Mid America second team, while also collecting 2020 MAC Rookie of the Year accolades. Further, Fair earned 2021 MAC and 2023 ACC All-Defensive Team honors.
In her final year at Buffalo, Fair earned the 2022 MAC Tournament MVP award after averaging 25.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game in leading Buffalo to the tournament title and an NCAA berth. During Fair’s two years playing for the Orange, Syracuse advanced to the 2023 WNIT third round and 2024 NCAA Tournament second round.
DYAISHA FAIR CAREER COLLEGIATE STATISTICS
Season School G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AVG AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS AVG 2019-20 Buffalo 30 26 1082 232 624 .372 74 236 .314 122 170 .718 58 120 178 5.9 106 83 3 123 45 660 22.0 2020-21 Buffalo 24 24 873 187 513 .365 60 190 .316 145 179 .810 47 96 143 6.0 122 70 3 66 35 579 24.1 2021-22 Buffalo 34 34 1270 276 684 .404 93 253 .368 151 185 .816 37 128 165 4.9 149 71 4 67 31 796 23.4 2022-23 Syracuse 33 33 1181 228 573 .398 88 243 .362 112 137 .818 25 92 117 3.5 138 79 4 65 22 656 19.9 2023-24 Syracuse 32 30 1198 236 602 .392 115 305 .377 125 157 .796 44 102 146 4.6 114 76 6 66 16 712 22.3 Career 153 147 5604 1159 2996 .387 430 1227 .350 655 828 .791 211 538 749 4.9 629 379 20 387 149 3403 22.2 No. 18 Kate MartinMartin played all five years at Iowa where, after her freshman season in 2019-20, she started the final 139 games of her career. The 6-0, Edwardsville, Illinois, native averaged 13.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a senior, and was named to the 2024 All-Big 10 second team for her efforts. She closed out her career with averages of 8.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists over 163 games.
Martin aided Iowa to a 132-37 (.781) record, four-straight NCAA Tournaments, including the past two championship games, the 2021 Sweet 16 and 2022 second round. Iowa also captured the past three Big 10 Tournament championships and the 2022 Big 10 regular season title.
KATE MARTIN CAREER COLLEGIATE STATISTICS
Season School G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AVG AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS AVG 2019-20 Iowa 24 0 202 21 64 .328 4 22 .182 12 16 .750 13 30 43 1.8 18 8 3 16 18 58 2.4 2020-21 Iowa 30 30 922 78 181 .431 28 79 .354 27 32 .844 44 88 132 4.4 120 37 9 48 67 211 7.0 2021-22 Iowa 32 32 961 86 190 .453 20 70 .286 37 50 .740 39 119 158 3.5 111 36 23 62 78 229 7.2 2022-23 Iowa 38 38 1083 100 214 .467 46 111 .414 45 54 .833 27 131 158 3.6 136 33 15 63 75 291 7.7 2023-24 Iowa 39 39 1122 185 365 .507 51 138 .370 89 103 .864 51 214 265 2.3 88 34 20 77 63 510 13.1 Career 163 139 4290 470 1014 .464 149 420 .355 210 255 .824 174 582 756 2.9 473 148 70 266 301 1299 8.0 No. 24 Elizabeth Kitley
Kitley, who missed Tech’s final four games of the 2023-24 season after tearing her ACL, capped her five-year career in Blacksburg as the ACC’s all-time leading scorer (2,709) and rebounder (1,506), while connecting on 55.2% of her field goal attempts. Kitley averaged 17.9 points and 11.4 rebounds in 151 career games, scored 20 or more points 60 times and 10 or more boards on 81 occasions with 76 double-doubles.
The 6-6 All-American from Summerfield, North Carolina, was a three-time ACC Player of the Year, four-time All-ACC first team selection, three times named to the ACC All-Defensive Team and was the 2020 ACC Rookie of the Year. During her five years in Blacksburg, the Hokies posted a 115-42 (.732) record, competed in four NCAA Tournaments, advanced to the 2023 Final Four, earned the 2023 ACC Tournament crown and the 2024 ACC regular season championship.
ELIZABETH KITLEY CAREER COLLEGIATE STATISTICS
Season School G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AVG AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS AVG 2019-20 Virginia Tech 30 30 804 154 274 .562 1 5 .200 66 99 .667 64 162 226 7.5 22 6 63 65 81 375 12.5 2020-21 Virginia Tech 25 25 890 180 339 .531 3 7 .429 92 118 .780 61 198 259 10.4 49 13 47 69 53 455 18.2 2021-22 Virginia Tech 32 32 1024 237 430 .551 1 6 .167 105 145 .724 84 231 315 9.8 48 17 77 64 65 580 18.1 2022-23 Virginia Tech 35 35 1217 260 466 .558 1 5 .200 117 162 .722 102 274 376 10.7 51 22 84 77 78 638 18.2 2023-24 Virginia Tech 29 29 995 278 500 .556 2 5 .400 103 133 .774
