NEW YORK – The Tennessee women’s basketball program added to its impressive list of players advancing to the professional ranks, as three former Lady Vol standouts were selected in WNBA Draft 2018, presented by State Farm, at Nike New York Headquarters on Thursday night.

The Chicago Sky took Diamond DeShields (2015-17) with the third overall pick in the first round, UT’s highest draftee since Shekinna Stricklen went second to the Seattle Storm in 2012. DeShields will play for head coach Amber Stocks, who served as a graduate assistant and director of basketball operations at Tennessee from 2000-02. She is UT’s second all-time No. 3 pick (Tamika Catchings, Indiana, 2001), and she’ll join Bashaara Graves, a UT teammate in 2014-15, in the Windy City.

DeShields, a 6-foot-1 guard who played two seasons for the Lady Vols and spent the past year playing for professional team Cukurova in Turkey, became the 17th WNBA first round pick in UT history. She is the second first-rounder to play for Holly Warlick, following in the footsteps of Isabelle Harrison (2015, 12th pick, Phoenix). DeShields is the second Big Orange standout to be drafted by the Sky (Angie Bjorklund, 2nd Rd., 17th pick, 2011).

Jaime Nared (2014-18) was the second LVFL chosen, selected by the Las Vegas Aces with the 13th overall pick and first selection of the second round. With the Aces, who were previously the San Antonio Stars, the 6-2 forward will be reunited with Lady Vol alums Isabelle Harrison and Cierra Burdick, with whom she played as a freshman in 2014-15. Nared is UT’s third all-time selection by the Stars. Previous Lady Vols chosen by San Antonio were Shanna Zolman (2nd Rd., 16th pick, 2006) and Schaquilla Nunn (3rd Rd., 25th pick, 2017).

Mercedes Russell (2013-18) was the third Big Orange product to hear her name called, going to the New York Liberty with the 22nd overall pick in the second round. The 6-6 center is the sixth Lady Vol chosen by the Liberty. Previous picks by N.Y. include Loree Moore (1st Rd., 10th pick, 2005), Alberta Auguste (3rd Rd., 35th pick, 2008), Kelley Cain (1st Rd., 7th pick, 2012), Kamiko Williams (2nd Rd., 15th pick, 2013) and Meighan Simmons (3rd Rd., 26th pick, 2014).

The three-person draft class is UT’s biggest since Harrison, Burdick and Ariel Massengale were chosen in 2015. All three of Tennessee’s newest WNBA players earned their degrees prior to their senior seasons.

All time, 42 Lady Vols have been taken in the WNBA Draft, including 11 during the Holly Warlick era.  The eight previous Lady Vols taken during Warlick’s six years include: the duo of Jordan Reynolds (2nd Rd., 19th pick, Atlanta) and Schaquilla Nunn (3rd Rd., 25th pick, San Antonio) in 2017; Bashaara Graves (2nd Rd., 22nd pick, Minnesota) in 2016; the trio of Isabelle Harrison (1st Rd., 12th pick, Phoenix), Cierra Burdick (2nd Rd., 14th pick, Los Angeles) and Ariel Massengale (3rd Rd., 29th pick, Atlanta) in 2015; Meighan Simmons in 2014 (3rd Rd., 26th pick, New York); and Kamiko Williams in 2013 (2nd Rd. 15th pick, New York).

DeShields, Nared and Russell join six other former Lady Vols who currently are on WNBA rosters, including Burdick (Las Vegas), Graves (Chicago), Harrison (Las Vegas), Glory Johnson (Dallas), Candace Parker (Los Angeles) and Shekinna Stricklen (Connecticut).

Under Warlick, UT has had two first-rounders (Harrison, DeShields), six second-rounders (Williams, Burdick, Graves, Reynolds, Nared and Russell) and three third-rounders (Simmons, Massengale and Nunn).  Teams drafting Lady Vols under Warlick include New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minnesota, San Antonio/Las Vegas and Chicago.

DeShields led Tennessee and ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring in 2016-17 at 17.4 points per game, marking the highest average by a Lady Vol since Candace Parker put up 21.3 ppg. in 2007-08 and the sixth-highest ever recorded by a Lady Vol junior. She also averaged 6.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest.

DeShields hit double figures in points 26 times as a junior, scoring 20 or more points on 11 occasions. Despite leading the team in scoring average, she only paced the team in points during 10 games while leading UT 16 times in assists and five times in rebounds. She also led the team in charges taken with eight. The next closest player had three.

Her postseason accolades included WBCA Honorable Mention All-America, Coaches All-SEC First Team, AP All-SEC Second Team and the SEC Academic Honor Roll. She also was on the Dawn Staley Award, Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy and Wade Trophy Watch Lists during the year as well.

Russell averaged 15.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest, ranking second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding in 2017-18. She also ranked first in field goal percentage (.583) and blocked shots (44), while standing third in steals (39), fifth in free throw percentage (.682) and sixth in assists (27). Her 1,597 points and 1,085 rebounds rank her 16th and third, respectively on the Lady Vol career lists and her rebound average (9.2) is the fifth-highest ever recorded by a UT senior.

With her UT senior-record 16th double-double of the season in her final game, Russell finished with 46 for her career to wind up second behind only Chamique Holdsclaw (57). Her .583 field goal percentage is ninth-best in a single season, while her career numbers in field goal percentage (.570), blocks (195) and rebound average (8.0) ranked her fifth, fifth and sixth, respectively, all-time at Tennessee.

Russell netted WBCA Honorable Mention All-America and WBCA All-Region accolades for the second year in a row. She was an All-SEC First Team selection after earning second-team honors a year ago, and she was a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award as well in 2017-18.

Nared led Tennessee in scoring at 16.7 points per game in 2017-18 and was third with 7.4 rebounds per contest. She also ranked first in steals (73), second in three-pointers made (27), third in assists (84) and third in blocks (20), while leading the Lady Vols in free throw percentage (.820), free throws made (169) and free throws attempted (206).

With 19 double-doubles during her career, Nared’s 10 this season ranked her sixth among SEC players and seventh-most ever by a Lady Vol senior. She finished second all-time at UT in a season in free throws made (169) and 10th in free throws attempted (206), while standing fifth in career free throws made (429) and fifth in career free throw percentage (.827). Her scoring average of 16.7 is the eighth-highest all-time of any Lady Vol senior and her career point total of 1,460 ranks No. 26 on UT’s scoring list.

She was named AP and WBCA Honorable Mention All-America, WBCA All-Region, All-SEC First Team by the coaches and second team by the media, MVP of the Cancun Challenge and a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award. She also was named USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week, a two-time SEC Player of the Week, a two time College Sports Madness National Player of the Week and a three-time College Sports Madness SEC Player of the Week.

The WNBA will tip off its 22nd season Friday, May 18, and feature eight games on opening weekend. The highlight of WNBA Tip-Off 2018 presented by Verizon is #WNBAAllDay on Sunday, May 20, when all 12 teams will be in action.  The complete 2018 schedule is available at http://www.wnba.com/schedule/.

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