Former area high school All-Americans, Cox and Carter, picked in Top 4 of WNBA Draft
The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was well represented during the Top 5 of the 2020 WNBA Draft on Friday.
Flower Mound’s Lauren Cox and Mansfield Timberview’s Chennedy Carter were selected No. 3 and 4, which was set as a virtual draft and aired on ESPN due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cox, a high school All-American and a national champion at Baylor, was picked by the Indiana Fever. Carter, also a high school All-American and a multiple record-holder at Texas A&M, is headed to the Atlanta Dream.
Cox recorded eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks before suffering a left knee injury in Baylor’s 82-81 victory over Notre Dame in last year’s championship game.
She averaged 12.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game this season. She finishes with averages of 12 points and 7.5 rebounds. She leaves Baylor ranked second all-time in blocks (302), seventh in double-doubles (35) and ninth in rebounds (982). Cox is just the second player in NCAA women’s basketball history since 1999 to compile at least 1,500 points, 975 rebounds, 300 blocks and 300 assists along with UConn’s Breanna Stewart.
She was voted Big 12 player of the year this season, is a two-time Big 12 defensive POTY and was named Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman.
Cox was ranked as the No. 1 post player in the 2016 class by ESPN HoopGurlz. She was a Naismith High School Player of the Year finalist and McDonald’s All-American.
She was named Gatorade Texas Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons and USA Today Texas Player of the Year and USA Today All-Texas first team in back-to-back seasons. Cox was District MVP as a senior and two-time all-state selection. She averaged 21.8 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.4 blocks and 2.2 assists in her final year as the Jaguars went 23-7.
Carter finished her collegiate career with 22.5 points per game, averaging at least 21 points in all three seasons. She set the single game record at A&M with 46 points against USC in 2017, just a couple months into her freshman season. She also holds the fourth, fifth and sixth highest scoring games in program history.
She is the only Aggie to be named an All-American in her first three seasons and first to be selected to the All-SEC first team in her first three years. She was voted an All-American this season by two different outlets, also a first in program history.
She scored a program freshman record 816 points, second most by any player in a single season. Her 22.7 points per game ranked second most by an A&M player while her 23.3 as a sophomore is No. 1.
Carter averaged 31 points per game in her first six NCAA Tournament games, which ranks third all-time among players with five or more games. She averaged 22.7 points as a freshman and was unanimous National Freshman of the Year, making her A&M’s first winner of a national postseason award.
During her prep career at Timberview, she helped the Lady Wolves to the Class 5A state championship game in 2017. She was ranked the No. 6 recruit by espnW HoopGurlz, the highest-ranked women’s basketball player to sign with A&M out of high school. She averaged 20.3 points per game as a senior and was named Star-Telegram player of the year.
The Dallas Wings had a busy night as well with three picks in the Top 7 (2, 5, 7).
They drafted Oregon’s Satou Sabally second overall. Princeton’s Bella Alarie went fifth and Tyasha Harris was picked seventh. Dallas took Germany’s Luisa Geiselsoder ninth in the second round.
Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, the national player of the year, was picked No. 1 overall by the New York Liberty.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 7:39 PM.
