Former Iowa State women’s basketball player Bridget Carleton was the first selection in the April 3 WNBA expansion draft.
The Portland Fire chose the former Cyclone with the No. 1 overall pick.
“The obvious logic was she’s going to be our number-one pick,” Fire general manager Vanja Černivec said. “Bridget (Carleton) is someone that, number one, everybody wants to play with. Her character speaks herself and then what she brings on court on both ends of the floor, it’s something it’s hard to find new player. So we’re very excited to see her excel defensively but also kind of stretch her floor.”
Carleton has played seven seasons in the WNBA, almost all of that time with Minnesota. She averaged 6.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.8 steals for the Lynx last season.
The WNBA is growing from 13 to 15 teams with the addition of the Fire and the Toronto Tempo, both set to begin play in the 2026 season. The first step in building those rosters came with Friday’s expansion draft.
The draft consisted of two rounds, with each team selecting from a pool of players made available by the existing 13 franchises. Ahead of the draft, each of the existing 13 teams submitted a list of five “protected” players who could not be selected in the draft. Carleton was not protected by the Lynx.
Carleton is one of Iowa State’s all-time greats. A native of Chatham, Ontario (Canada), Carleton was the 2019 winner of the Cheryl Miller Award Winner, given to the nation’s top small forward. She was an Associated Press second-team All-American and the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2019.
Elizabeth Flores and Meghan L. Hall of USA TODAY contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ex-Iowa State player Bridget Carleton picked 1st in WNBA expansion draft
Reporting by Register staff report, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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