Indiana Fever Select Baylor's NaLyssa Smith Second Overall in WNBA Draft

New York – Baylor women’s basketball All-American power forward NaLyssa Smith was taken with the second overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2022 WNBA draft Monday night.

The two-time Katrina McClain Award Winner was the first of seven draft picks made by the rebuilding Fever, who also picked Baylor center, Queen Egbo, with the tenth overall pick.

Smith, a native of Converse, Texas, averaged 22.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.2 blocks per game during the regular season. Her 25 double-doubles this year set a single-season Baylor record and was good for third in the country.

The Fever are in a full rebuild at the moment, having not had a winning record since 2015 when they lost in the WNBA Finals. That rebuild kicked off tonight with their seven draft picks, four of which were in the first round.

Along with Smith and Egbo, the Fever selected Louisville power forward Emily Engstler and Stanford shooting guard Lexie Hull.

"We're going to rebuild with young players," Indiana General Manager Lin Dunn told Mechelle Voepel of ESPN. "Everybody's going to play hard, everybody's going to work hard, everybody's going to be high energy, hungry to play."

Dunn also told Voepel that Smith is a true franchise player that a team can be built around, and her plan is for a three-year rebuild. Fever coach Marianne Stanley will hopefully think along the same lines.