In this day and age of sexual harassment challenges lurking everywhere, what must a woman do to get a little love? Six-foot-five, brown-haired beauty Natalie Butler has done it all in her NCAA career. She set the season record with 29 double-doubles this season. Butler also leads the nation in rebounding by a wide margin. Still, the so-called experts planning mock drafts for the WNBA this spring pretend she doesn’t exist.
The George Mason Patriots have won a record 22 games (22-8, 11-5 Atlantic 10) this season heading into the A-10 Tournament March 2.
Butler is also the Pats' leading scorer with 18.7 points per game. Before Butler transferred, the Pats were 13-17 and lost their best scorers.
Blue blood
What a difference a hoops goddess makes to a small school. That doesn’t mean Butler is worthy of the big show. Don’t forget the rest of her resume. Butler was an important contributor at UConn where she won a title in 2016 with women named Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck and Saniya Chong.
Besides, the last small college gal drafted from the DC-area into the WNBA, Jonquel Jones, won the most improved player award last year. Jones is a George Washington alumnus. Mason plays GW in the A-10 quarterfinal.
If shattering records at Georgetown—as a freshman—is all it took, Butler would at least be a second-round pick in someone’s mock draft.
Butler grabbed 425 rebounds in 2013-14. Her 59 blocks are also a school season record and it places Butler in the top 20 of all-time rejecters. Still, Butler is not mentioned in the WNBA draft conversation.
D2 Schools
There are also some women at Division II schools who deserve a look at some WNBA training camps when they open on April 29.
What is the difference between a pro three-pointer and an NCAA shot? The answer is about 17 inches. The WNBA average for treys was only .338 percent last year.
St. Thomas Aquinas College player Jenna Erickson shot 51 percent from the floor and 46.6 from 3-pt range, while averaging 17.6 ppg. The New York Liberty shot below league average last year, and they should invite the local woman to camp.
Shepherd University's Morgan Arden shot .471 percent from long range this year while averaging nearly 22 points a game. She also hit .863 at the charity stripe. Shepherd is close enough to Washington, Indiana and Atlanta—the worst shooting three-point teams—to invite her.
Draft
The WNBA web page says the draft is scheduled for April. When it commences the Chicago Sky will be the only club with two first round selections and they come at Nos. 3 and 4. Las Vegas, formerly San Antonio, will have the first pick. Indiana is next. Seattle is fifth, followed by Dallas.
Then the teams with winning records enter. Washington and Phoenix were 18-16 in 2017, 7th and 8th this year. Connecticut is next, followed by New York, Los Angeles, and the defending champs, Minnesota Lynx.