Aari McDonald and Trinity Baptiste selected in the WNBA Draft

On a busy day of WNBA action, the 2021 Draft took place on Thursday evening, and to our delight, our beloved Aari McDonald and Trinity Baptiste were selected. 

It was a successful season for the Arizona Women’s Basketball team, and regrettably, their remarkable run is over as our Wildcats ultimately came up just short in their quest for a title. Luckily for us, the journey is not over for former Wildcats Aari McDonald and Trinity Baptiste.

As we all saw in Arizona’s run in the NCAA Tournament, it was these two that came up big time after time, delivering in some of the biggest moments on the brightest stage for the Cats. So naturally, after the seasons that they had, there was a great possibility of them both making the WNBA.

Arizona Wildcats

Aari of course was considered to be a Top 5 pick, while Trinity showed great potential in being selected in the later part of the draft.

Well, Thursday evening came and went, and both our Wildcats have found homes. Aari was selected No. 3 overall (the highest a Wildcat has ever been selected) to the Atlanta Dream and Trinity No. 24 overall by the Indiana Fever.

Aari McDonald

Team: Atlanta Dream
Selection: No. 3

2020-21 Stats:

21 Games Played (21 Starts) – 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. *Not including NCAA Tournament stats.

Overview: 

The face of the Wildcats, Aari has been building up to this very moment. She had the opportunity to leave last year but surprisingly returned to Arizona after not playing in the 2020 NCAA Tournament due to Covid cancelations.

Well, after a tremendous career with the Wildcats, Aari heads to the WNBA as the No. 3 overall pick and she will have a great chance to showcase her skills on an even bigger stage.

Trinity Baptiste

Team: Indiana Fever
Selection: No. 24

2020-21 Stats: 

21 Games Played (21 Starts) – 8.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game. *Not including NCAA Tournament stats.

Overview: 

One of Arizona’s better players in 2020-21, Trinity had transferred to Arizona before the season after previously finding success at Virginia Tech and Northwest Florida State College. She was a big part of the Wildcats’ success, and because of her impact with Arizona, she finds herself with a new team.

If she can continue to play to her strengths, and impact the game as she does, she can find a home in the WNBA for a while!