Trinity Rodman, daughter of NBA legend Dennis, picked 2nd overall in NWSL draft
Trinity Rodman, the daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman, is following in her famous father’s footsteps into professional sports.
Rodman, 18, was selected by the Washington Spirit with the second overall pick in Wednesday’s National Women’s Soccer League draft.
Expansion franchise Racing Louisville took defender/midfielder Emily Fox of the University of North Carolina went with the first overall pick. Fox is currently training with the world champion United States women’s national team.
Rodman went next, however. The U.S. under-20 national team standout become the youngest selection in NWSL history — and just the second teenager ever taken after Sophia Smith, who at 19 went to the Portland Thorns with last year’s No. 1 pick — just a day after registering for the draft and forgoing her freshman season at Washington State University. She never appeared in a match with the Cougars because the NCAA women’s soccer season was pushed from last fall to this spring because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Obviously this has been my dream forever,” she said on the NWSL’s live stream of the event. “I think right now, with COVID and everything, honestly a lot of people can say its not the right time [to turn pro], but right now I think it’s a perfect time to get in there and learn and become a better player.”
A 5-foot-10 forward, Rodman established herself as the top high school recruit in the nation in 2020 after leading the U.S. U-20s to the CONCACAF title by scoring nine goals in six games. Two years earlier, the Newport Beach, Calif. native represented her country at the 2018 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Uruguay.
Rodman joins a veteran squad in the nation’s capital. The Spirit’s roster includes Kelley O’Hara and Emily Sonnett, both of whom helped the USWNT win the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Dennis Rodman, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011, was taken in the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft. He won five NBA titles, two with the Detroit Pistons and three with the Chicago Bulls, where he played alongside fellow Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
More from Yahoo Sports:
