Three Blue Devils Drafted to the WNBA

During today's 2011 WNBA Draft, three Duke players were drafted and invited to their respective team's training camps.

Senior point guard Jasmine Thomas was selected in the first round as the 12th pick by the Seattle Storm, who currently leads the Western Conference and won the 2010 title.

"I’ve never been to Washington before, but I'm excited to play in a great city, in Seattle with one of the best point guards there in Sue Bird, and I'm excited to play alongside her," Thomas said. "They also have Lauren Jackson, Swin Cash and a great veteran group to have a chance to learn from."

Thomas—who was named to the AP All-America second team and was a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith National Player of the Year awards—will be joining former Blue Devil Bridgette Mitchell, who signed a training camp contract Sunday with the Storm.

"She’s a great friend of mine, and I played with her at Duke, so to get a chance to play with her at the professional level is so much fun," Thomas said.

The second Duke player to be drafted to the WNBA this year was Karima Christmas, who was selected as the No. 23 pick by the Washington Mystics. Christmas ended the season on a high note and was instrumental in the Blue Devils' dominance in the ACC Tournament.

The draft's last pick—again belonging to the Storm—went to center Krystal Thomas, who will be joining Jasmine Thomas and Mitchell in Seattle. Krystal Thomas ended her career at Duke sixth all-time on the career rebounding list and proved a threat in the post.