WNBA Mock Draft Big Board 4.0: The best-laid plans

NEW LONDON, CT - MAY 21: Lee Watrous of Habitat for Humanity and Connecticut Sun Assistant Coach Bernadette Mattox and Connecticut Sun Head Coach Mike Thibault review the floorplan at a Habitat for Humanity work site on May 21, 2011 in New London, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2011 NBAE (Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW LONDON, CT - MAY 21: Lee Watrous of Habitat for Humanity and Connecticut Sun Assistant Coach Bernadette Mattox and Connecticut Sun Head Coach Mike Thibault review the floorplan at a Habitat for Humanity work site on May 21, 2011 in New London, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2011 NBAE (Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – FEBRUARY 15: Notre Dame’s Jessica Shepard (23) and Virginia’s Felicia Aiyeotan (NGA) (30) during the Virginia Cavaliers game versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on February 15, 2018, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – FEBRUARY 15: Notre Dame’s Jessica Shepard (23) and Virginia’s Felicia Aiyeotan (NGA) (30) during the Virginia Cavaliers game versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on February 15, 2018, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

12. Seattle Storm: Jessica Shepard, 6’4 F, Notre Dame

It’s going to be hard for anyone to so much as make the Seattle Storm, let alone earn some playing time right away. But if there’s someone at this slot who can, it is Jessica Shepard, a versatile 6’4 with an enormously high basketball IQ. Dan Hughes will love the outlet passes off the defensive rebounds, he can utilize her even as a shooter to space the floor around his stars, and Shepard, while no Breanna Stewart (to be fair, no one is), could credibly play many of the roles Stewart does in sets while part of the Seattle second unit. More to the point, Shepard offers more in the way of versatility than Crystal Langhorne and is a much bigger body than Alysha Clark — which is not to say she should supplant either of them, but rather that she can offer Hughes a different look.