WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ariel Atkins was planning to go to New York City with her family for the 2018 WNBA Draft — right up until last week, when the list of 10 invitees was released, and she didn’t make the cut.
So instead, the senior from Texas watched the draft on ESPN2 like the rest of us. That’s where she was, surrounded by her grandmother, aunt, cousins, parents, and other family and friends, when she got the call from Washington Mystics head coach Mike Thibault, telling her they were picking her seventh overall in the first round.
While it would have been nice to be at Nike headquarters, dressed up and surrounded by the greats of the game, it was even more special to celebrate with the ones she loved, right there in the living room where everything got started.
“I’m extremely blessed and extremely excited,” Atkins told reporters on the phone from Texas. “My parents are jumping around.”
There were more high-profile names still on the draft board when the Mystics were put on the clock — such as Victoria Vivians, Lexi Brown, and Kia Nurse — but Thibault was taken with the quickness, efficiency, and defensive prowess of the 5’11” versatile guard.
“She’s a quintessential 2-3 that can play at both ends of the floor,” Thibault told media at Capital One Arena before making the Mystics’ second-round pick (Myisha Hines-Allen, Louisville) and third-round pick (Rebecca Greenwell, Duke). “She’s a really, really efficient player. Her true shooting percentage, effective field-goal percentage, all of that is like top five percent in the draft class. And her length on defense is huge for us. We thought she was one of the best post passers in the draft, and when you have a player like Delle Donne on the team, the people around her have to be able to do multiple things.
“She helps you spread the floor, she’ll be one of the fastest players on the floor, end to end on both directions. It was a hard call, but we felt that she answered all of the boxes that we were trying to check at that position, so I know there were other big-name players on the draft board, but I’ve never made draft picks based on what others people think I should do.”
In other words, the Mystics had a spirited debate about who to pick over the last week, but ultimately, Atkins was exactly what they were looking for.
The Mystics will be without Emma Meesseman this season, due to her commitments to the Belgian National Team. But Thibault said that had no bearing on this pick; improving wing scoring and efficiency was the main priority going into the offseason, especially since Tayler Hill, the Mystics’ guard who was in the All-Star conversation before tearing her ACL last season, won’t be back until sometime mid June.
“We needed someone on the perimeter who could give us a jolt immediately, and is also a good defensive player too,” Thibault said. “There’s no pressure on her to come in and be an instant contributor because we have a solid starting lineup.”
Thibault has already told Atkins to start working on her three-point shooting between now and training camp — she shot 42 percent from beyond the arch in college, but coach was quick to remind everyone that the WNBA line is deeper than the college line. Thankfully, one of Atkins’ college coaches, Hall of Famer and Associate Head Coach at Texas, Tina Thompson, gave Thibault plenty of assurance that Atkin has the work ethic to adapt to life in the pros.
“ couldn’t have recommended her higher. The character stuff, the learning stuff, her overall dedication to being great every day,” Thibault said. “She’s not going to be outworked.”
Thompson, who was one of the first people to call and congratulate Atkins, told Thibault that Atkins’ personality and drive actually remind her of another legend of the game — Tamika Catchings. Believe it or not, Catchings and Atkins actually attended the same high school in Duncanville, Texas, and Catchings is Atkins’ idol.
Atkins clearly has a deep respect for the history of the game, which will serve her well now that she’s a teammate to Delle Donne.
“I can’t wait to get to D.C.,” Atkins said.