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BREAKING: Alaina Coates Had Ankle Surgery, Will Miss At Least Part of WNBA Season

By Howard Megdal

Feb 22, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks center Alaina Coates (41) shoots in front of Alabama Crimson Tide forward Quanetria Bolton (1) during the 4th quarter at Foster Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kelly Lambert-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks center Alaina Coates (41) shoots in front of Alabama Crimson Tide forward Quanetria Bolton (1) during the 4th quarter at Foster Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kelly Lambert-USA TODAY Sports /
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Multiple WNBA sources have told The Summitt that South Carolina center Alaina Coates, out since the SEC Tournament with an ankle injury and projected first round pick, had ankle surgery that will keep her out of at least part of the WNBA season.

The consensus is that despite the injury, Coates, a highly-coveted center, will not suffer from any drop in projection from teams looking to take her.

Coates missed South Carolina’s NCAA Tournament championship run at the end of a senior season which saw her finish fifth in the country in effective field goal percentage at 67 percent. Despite playing in the same frontcourt as elite rebounder A’ja Wilson, Coates ended the season eighth in the country in rebounds per 40 minutes with 24.7. Combine that with a double-digit assist percentage and holding opponents to just 0.514 points per possession on post ups, per Synergy, it isn’t any wonder she is coveted, even as she recovers.

“I think it’s going to translate really well,” ESPN WNBA analyst Rebecca Lobo said of Coates’ game at the next level during a conference call last week. “She already has a pro size, she has a pro body. She has a pro skill set in terms of what she can do when she gets the ball on the block. She also has a nice soft touch out to 10 feet or so. So I think she’s — of course her health is going to play into it in terms of this year, but I think she definitely has pro-ready body, pro-ready skill set. She’ll be a player who can really help a team this year and will get a lot of minutes, assuming she’s healthy.”

Unfortunately, for now, that assumption cannot be made. Plenty of players have missed time during their rookie seasons due to injuries sustained prior to the draft, most recently Jillian Alleyne, who went to the Phoenix Mercury with the 20th pick in the 2016 WNBA draft, got traded to Connecticut, then traded back to Phoenix before ever playing a game in the league.

And most famously, Tamika Catchings missed her rookie season with a knee injury that cost her the end of her senior season at Tennessee. The Indiana Fever picked her third overall in the 2001 draft anyhow, and it is doubtful they regret it—she is the league’s all-time leader in career win shares.

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