College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday.
Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6.
Photo from the Golden State Valkyries Instagram
While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year.
Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a highly underrated player, praising her for her poise, leadership and playmaking abilities.
"Though undersized, Chen's ability to elevate teammates and control the tempo is similar to other guards," an ESPN report said yesterday.
"Chen's versatility and leadership make her a reliable, impactful addition at the next level, and she's set to join a long line of UConn greats in the WNBA," the report said.
Chen's teammate at UConn, Paige Bueckers, who was the first player chosen in the draft, advocated for Chen and another teammate Aubrey Griffin to be selected.
"I think two teams or one team would be genius to add Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin to their team, so I think they should get drafted tonight," Bueckers said after hearing her own name called.
Griffin was selected seven picks after Chen by the Minnesota Lynx.
In her one year at UConn, Chen, listed at 1.75m tall, averaged 6.9 points, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals a game in 23 minutes a game of playing time.
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