Prospect diaries: How four WNBA prospects are handling life under quarantine and a virtual draft
The approach to the 2020 WNBA draft is different, but the excitement surrounding it is not.
College prospects spent their final day before the draft at locations across the country, rather than together in New York, as the draft will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 crisis. They’re finishing thesis projects, playing games with family, getting in workouts with household items and setting up equipment to capture their excitement for the cameras.
Because even in uncertain times, this is still one of the biggest nights of a player’s life. And there’s still a buzz around the league even as the tipoff to a much-anticipated season has been postponed indefinitely.
“It’s also huge for women’s sports and sports in general,” said Bella Alarie, a three-time Ivy League player of the year for Princeton. “This is the first virtual draft in history and to be a part of that is really special. I’m definitely someone who likes to look on the bright side of things and think positively and this is actually a really cool moment even though there’s a lot going on and it’s a difficult time.”
Yahoo Sports caught up with Alarie and three other prospects — Rice guard Erica Ogwumike, South Carolina forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Oregon State guard Mikayla Pivec — the day before Friday’s draft to see what they’re up to, how they’re handling things and what their plans are for the first virtual draft in league history.
Playing basketball in an age of social distancing
Back at her childhood home in Bethesda, Maryland, Alarie has been shooting hoops on the family’s quarter-court.
“I’m lucky to have my dad, obviously, love basketball and instill that in me since I was really young,” Alarie said. “And he wanted to have a place for us to shoot and get better and this time has been perfect for that.”
Her father, Mark, played for Duke and was a first-round pick of the Denver Nuggets in 1986. He’s been working out with her as well as her younger brother. Herbert Harrigan is also fortunate to have a place to play. She’s back home near Miami and has been able to get workouts in a couple of days a week at a local court.
Pivec is getting in normal workouts a Meridian, Idaho, gym operated by the brother of an Oregon State assistant coach. It’s closed to the public, but he’s allowed certain people to use it.
“Thankfully I have access to that facility, which has made working out not so much a hassle,” said Pivec, who was fresh off of a workout Thursday. “A lot of outdoor hoops in the area have had their rims taken off.”
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But Ogwumike, the youngest of the four talented hoops sisters, hasn’t been able to do the same in Houston.
“Yeah,” she emphasized. “I realized that we don’t have a basketball hoop at our house. Unfortunately.”
Instead she’s been doing sprints and running. The family has been doing weight workouts and Rice’s strength coach is sending players 40-minute routines.
“I actually haven't been able to touch a basketball that much. So that’s been an adjustment,” she said. “But I think I’ve mentally taken a step back from basketball, which potentially could be good whenever we do start touching the ball soon.”
Extra time with family, schoolwork and Harry Potter
The Ogwumikes are together again back home in Houston for an first extended period of time though each in their own place — except Chiney, who has been “chilling” in different locations and occasionally crashing her little sister’s interviews. She’s working on YouTube videos, seeing her sisters, and keeping up on her anatomy cadaver lab and piano classes.
“I’m trying to make sure I don't fail my classes,” said the pre-med student who was accepted to nine of the 10 medical schools to which she applied. “It’s a different form of self-discipline when you’re studying not in a school setting.”
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Alarie is working on her history degree thesis on the 1921 Broadway musical, “Shuffle Along.” She grew up going to theater and dance class and bonds over it with her mother, Rene.
“I think basketball is kind of synonymous with who I am but I absolutely love Broadway,” she said.
It’s been tricky during the quarantine period. She had plans to visit the New York Public Library for research, but had to change course. Her family is using the time to play games, do puzzles and even clean the entire house — a huge project but one that was fun and satisfying, she said.
“It’s kind of like a blessing in disguise because I really didn’t think my senior year I'd have a couple of weeks to spend, or months, with my family so it’s been really nice,” she said.
Pivec, a graduate student in biochemistry/biophysics, has been able to spend more time with her younger sister, Malia, a cross country runner at Boise State University. She’s also reconnected with an old friend from middle school and might start reading the Harry Potter series soon.
Advice from Ogwumike, Alarie family members
Ogwumike remembers seeing her sisters drafted but she doesn’t remember if she was with them because, she jokes, it happened twice. Nneka was the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Chiney was the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft by the Connecticut Sun, who traded her to the Sparks last offseason.
“I’ve definitely witnessed and experienced first-hand everything they’ve gone through,” Ogwumike said. “It’s sort of like I’ve already gone through it. It’s new to me, of course, because now I’m slapping myself in the face, like, no, it’s you this time! But at the same time it’s been good to be able to watch for like, what, the past eight, nine, 10 years what my sisters go through.”
Her sisters — commonly ones to dish advice — told her to stay in the moment, enjoy and avoid predicting what happens. For those who like predictions, Ogwumike is projected by some mock drafts to go late in the third round to the Sparks.
Alarie’s father, Mark, was a 6-foot-8 power forward in the NBA for five seasons. He’s given her a little advice, she said, but mainly has the same wisdom for his projected first-round pick.
“I think he just wants me not to be nervous and take in the moment,” said Alarie, who has a chance to become the first Ivy Leaguer with an extended WNBA career since Harvard’s Allison Feaster in 1998. “That’s a lot of the advice I’ve gotten from everyone is, it’s a very overwhelming time and there’s so much going on, but this is the night you dream of and what you work so hard for. So just really take it all in and appreciate it for what it is.”
How prospects are spending virtual draft night
No matter how different every day life is for the four prospects, there is one thing that hasn’t changed. They are all excited to potentially hear their named called and become a part of WNBA history. It is the reason commissioner Cathy Engelbert wanted to ensure the annual event went on.
It will look different for Pivec, whose parents are unable to join her in person. The sisters grew up in Lynwood, Washington, where Seattle became an early epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. When universities shut down her parents advised her to join Malia in Idaho to stay safe. That’s when she reconnected with her friend Kayla Anderson.
The Anderson family is trying to make it a special night for Pivec with special touches in the living room like her photo, a basketball and a WNBA T-shirt on the wall. The WNBA’s swag box with hats for every team is ready to go and the food will be Pivec favorites: cinnamon rolls, Cafe Rio and smoothies.
“We’re going to Skype my family members into the living room so they’ll be virtually watching the virtual draft,” said Pivec, the Beavers career leader in rebounds.
She said her parents are probably more nervous than she is, but she’d be lying if she didn’t say she was nervous, too.
Herbert Harrigan, who is fifth in career blocked shots for the Gamecocks, will also be using video conferencing to include her family. The 2017 national champion knows people to do her nails and hair at her house and she’ll watch with her mother, Michelle, but her younger sister, Mikiaya, is back in their home of the Caribbean and can’t travel.
“The hard work you put in in your life leads up to this moment,” Herbert Harrigan said. “It’s really surreal [and] means a lot.”
Ogwumike said she didn’t know until earlier this year she would be on a WNBA team’s radar.
“I’m just trying to enjoy it and reflect and think back on how much work I’ve done,” she said. “I’m trying to be proud of myself and proud of everyone that’s gone through it with me.
“I’m excited for Friday to see what happens. Excited that I put myself in the opportunity to have options [with the WNBA and med school].”
Alarie, a history major, is taking the time to think about how special this moment is on a timeline. Women’s basketball is on the upswing and she views it as a special time in the history of the sport.
“Though it’s not in New York City or wherever it’s going to be, [we’re not] wearing a gown or whatever, a jumpsuit, in front of all those people, I still get to be with my family at home,” Alarie said. “We’re definitely going to celebrate because it’s a huge moment in my life and in my family’s life. They’ve been so important to my development as a player and getting me here. There’s just so many countless things I can thank them for.
“I think it’s just really important to thank all the women who came before who made this thing possible for all the draftees as well.”
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