Maryland senior forwards Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper will both be in Tampa, Fla. this week, albeit not for everything they hoped for.
Harper and Langhorne wanted nothing more than to be in western Florida this week to help lead Maryland to its second national title in three years. However, Stanford ended those dreams by beating the Terrapins in the Elite Eight last week in Spokane, Wash.
As a consolation, Langhorne and Harper will be in Florida as two of the 20 women basketball players selected to attend the WNBA draft, set for 1 p.m. today. Both Terrapins are expected to be chosen in the three-round draft after helping lead Maryland to a 33-4 record this season.
“Continuing my basketball career has always been a dream of mine,” Langhorne said. “I feel like I?m ready to play at the next level after spending the last four years playing against the top players in the country.”
Langhorne, who averaged 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds, is the most decorated women?s basketball player in Maryland history. She finished her career with more than 2,200 points and 1,200 rebounds and her 65.2 field goal percentage is fourth in NCAA history.
Harper, the 2006 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, finished her career with 1,407 points and 873 rebounds. She finished this season with a career high in points (14.1) and rebounds (8.5) per game.
“Wednesday?s draft will represent a special day in Maryland basketball history,” Terrapins coach Brenda Frese said. “Both players are going to be tremendous professionals and will be able to make an immediate impact on whatever team they play for.”
While Langhorne and Harper are known commodities, Shalamar Oakley and Rashida Suber are just hoping to garner some attention from any WNBA team. Oakley and Suber just completed their collegiate careers and helped lead Coppin State to the NCAA Tournament this season. The pair was two of 40 players invited to the WNBA predraft camp last week at the University of Tampa.
Oakley was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year this season after Suber received the award last year. Oakley averaged 17.9 points and Suber averaged 17.5 points this season.
Suber said both players raised their profile considerably last month when Coppin State stayed close before losing 80-66 to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“When we were at the draft camp everyone came up to us and talked about how well we played against Maryland,” said Suber, who combined with Oakley to score 45 points against Maryland. “We?ve proven we can play with anyone in the country. We opened some people?s eyes about how well we can play.”
