From first overall pick LaToya Thomas in 2003 to Jessika Carter just last year, Mississippi State has had nine players selected in the WNBA Draft. Jerkaila Jordan is hoping to become the 10th when this year’s draft takes place Monday night in New York.
The odds may be against her — the only full three-round mock draft The Dispatch could find, from Stephanie Kaloi of High Post Hoops, did not have Jordan getting drafted — but the New Orleans product put together an impressive career in the Southeastern Conference over her four years with the Bulldogs.
She started 131 games at MSU, averaging nearly 30 minutes on the court, and scored at least 16 points per game each of the last two seasons. Jordan is fifth in program history in scoring and second in steals, and she has the intangible leadership qualities that professional teams are often looking for.
“She’s a player who has been through a lot of different things,” said Andraya Carter, a basketball analyst, host and reporter with ESPN, on a Zoom call with media members Thursday. “She can rebound, plays extremely hard, something she’s always been known for, and she was a leader on that team.”
Jordan joined the Bulldogs after spending her freshman year at Tulane, playing for a year under interim head coach Doug Novak on a team that finished the year with just seven available players. She stuck with MSU after the Bulldogs hired Sam Purcell and helped them reach the NCAA Tournament twice in the last three years, both times advancing to the second round.
Working to Jordan’s disadvantage is her relatively meager 3-point percentage, which dipped to a career-low 27.7 percent in her final season after sitting at 40 percent two years earlier. Guards in the WNBA are almost always three-level scorers, although if she is not the focal point of her team at the next level, defenses might not account for her the way they always did in college.
Working in Jordan’s favor is her strong all-around game. She was the Bulldogs’ best player on both ends of the floor, is adept at distributing the ball as well as scoring, and is an attack dog on defense.
“The athleticism, the leadership, the way that she can score is big,” Andraya Carter said. “(General managers) and coaches, they like stats that they can trust, and she’s been a player who has averaged double figures her entire career.”
Also to Jordan’s detriment is the WNBA’s strict roster limits. The Golden State Valkyries are joining the WNBA as its 13th team this year, but rosters are capped at 12 players, so several players drafted in the second and third rounds will end up being waived before the season starts.
Jessika Carter, taken in the second round by the New York Liberty with the 23rd overall pick in 2024, was waived by the Liberty without appearing in a game. She later signed with the Las Vegas Aces and played in two games for them before they too waived her at the end of June.
Thomas and 2005 No. 2 overall pick Tan White enjoyed the longest WNBA careers among former MSU players, and the only two active WNBA players from the Bulldogs are Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan, the stars from Vic Schaefer’s Final Four teams who were both drafted in the first round.
“(Jordan) doesn’t necessarily shoot the 3 well, which will be a point of growth for her,” Andraya Carter said. “But (there are) some appealing aspects of what Jerkaila can bring. I don’t project her incredibly early in the draft, there’s a lot of talent, but she definitely has an upside to be a draft pick for Mississippi State.”
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