After four dominating years in Columbus, Kelsey Mitchell will now get her buckets in Indiana as the Fever selected Ohio State's scoring-phenom with the second overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft.
"I always wanted to play basketball for as long as I could, and I think this is a huge stepping stone for me," Mitchell said earlier this week about playing in the WNBA. "I’m just grateful for everything, and I’m hopeful everything goes as planned."
Mitchell's four years in Columbus were nothing short of magnificent. She finished her career as not only the top scorer in school and conference history, but the No. 2 scorer in NCAA Division I history. She also made more three-pointers than anyone in NCAA history and has the most consecutive games with a made three-pointer. The number of school and conference awards in her name are nearly too many to count.
The Fever are hoping to benefit from Mitchell's high-powered and hot shooting. Indiana finished second-worst in the WNBA last year, averaging just 75.1 points per game.
“It’s going to be a lot of growing," Mitchell told ESPN of the transition to the WNBA. "I’m going to be learning a lot from the coaching staff and the vets been in the game – just paying attention, knowing what I can and can’t do, just seeing it before it happens.”
But Mitchell is more than just a scorer, as she demonstrated in her final season in Columbus when she was arguably the most complete guard in the country. She he dished out a career-high 148 assists and had a career-low 78 turnovers while drastically improving her defense. Following the season, she won the Dawn Staley award, given to the nation's top guard.
She's a high-motor player capable of playing massive minutes at constant break-neck speed.
"I think with my competitive spirit, I can play the game at such a quick level," Mitchell said. "I want to play it as fast as I can, as quick as I can, getting the ball at an up-and-down pace, so that’s what I’ll always try to bring to any team.”
Mitchell ended her Buckeye career as one of the most decorated players in Ohio State history. She's in the only four-time All-American in program history and was the Big Ten Player of the Year three of her four seasons.
Now, she'll look to make a splash at the next level.
@Kelz_Hoop Congrats yooooo!
— D'Angelo Russell (@Dloading) April 13, 2018
