Ohio State Guard Taylor Mikesell Selected by Indiana Fever with No. 13 Overall Pick in 2023 WNBA Draft

By Dan Hope on April 10, 2023 at 8:16 pm
Taylor Mikesell
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY Network
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Ohio State has its first WNBA draft pick in five years.

Taylor Mikesell became the first Buckeye since 2018 to have her name called in the WNBA draft when she was selected by the Indiana Fever with the first pick of the second round (No. 13 overall) of Monday night’s draft Monday.

She’s the 17th Buckeye to be selected in a WNBA draft since the league’s formation in 1997. She’s the first Buckeye drafted by a WNBA team since Kelsey Mitchell and Stephanie Mavunga were also drafted by the Fever in 2018, and she will now join Mitchell on the Fever’s roster.

Ohio State’s All-Time WNBA Draft Picks
Year Round Pick Team Player
2023 2 13 Indiana Fever Taylor Mikesell
2018 1 2 Indiana Fever Kelsey Mitchell
2018 2 14 Indiana Fever Stephanie Mavunga
2017 2 13 Connecticut Sun Shayla Cooper
2016 2 24 New York Liberty Ameryst Alston
2013 1 4 Washington Mystics Tayler Hill
2012 1 6 Phoenix Mercury Samantha Prahalis
2011 1 5 Los Angeles Sparks Jantel Lavender
2008 3 41 Phoenix Mercury Marscilla Packer
2007 1 2 San Antonio Silver Stars Jessica Davenport
2007 3 33 Seattle Storm Brandie Hoskins
2006 2 28 Connecticut Sun Debbie Merrill
2003 2 13 Connecticut Sun Courtney Coleman
2002 4 55 Orlando Miracle Tomeka Brown
2001 3 41 Washington Mystics Jamie Lewis
1999 Player Allocation   Minnesota Lynx Katie Smith
1998 Expansion Draft 8 Cleveland Rockers Adrienne Johnson

As one of four top-17 draft picks by the Fever on Monday night along with No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston (South Carolina), No. 7 overall pick Grace Berger (Indiana) and fellow second-round pick LaDazhia Williams (LSU), Mikesell will look to help turn around a team that went just 5-31 in 2022.

“It’s going to be incredible,” Mikesell told ESPN after being selected by the Fever. “I’m just excited to get to work, be around a ton of incredibly talented players and go ahead and try and be a good addition to the team.”

In her post-draft press conference, Mikesell said she is “very excited” to play with Mitchell and that she had spoken with Mitchell before the draft on Monday.

“She just gave me some advice and told me just to enjoy the moment and just keep being me,” Mikesell said.

Mikesell lands the opportunity to play in the WNBA after two seasons at Ohio State in which she averaged 17.9 points per game. She was one of the nation’s best 3-point shooters in both seasons as a Buckeye, averaging 3.4 made threes per game on 44.2% shooting.

A first-team All-Big Ten honoree in each of her years as a Buckeye, Mikesell also played two seasons at Maryland and one at Oregon before she finished her collegiate career in Columbus.

Mikesell and Mitchell are the only players who finished their college careers at Ohio State currently on WNBA rosters. Former Ohio State forward Dorka Juhász, who played her final two seasons of college basketball at UConn, was also selected in the second round of Monday night’s draft, going to the Minnesota Lynx with the 16th overall pick.

The 2023 WNBA season is scheduled to begin May 19, with the Fever set to open their season against the Connecticut Sun at 7 p.m. that Friday night.

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