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Rookie Race: Looking back at the WNBA’s closest Rookie of the Year votes

By Kurtis Zimmerman

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 22: Arike Ogunbowale #24 of Dallas Wings hugs Napheesa Collier #24 of the Minnesota Lynx after the game between the two teams on August 22, 2019 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minneosta. 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 22: Arike Ogunbowale #24 of Dallas Wings hugs Napheesa Collier #24 of the Minnesota Lynx after the game between the two teams on August 22, 2019 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minneosta. 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON – AUGUST 2: Jackie Stiles #10 of the Portland Fire drives the ball during the game against the Washington Mystics on August 2, 2002 at MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The Mystics won 67-65. 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 2002 WNBAE (Photo by Mitchell Layton/WNBAE/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – AUGUST 2: Jackie Stiles #10 of the Portland Fire drives the ball during the game against the Washington Mystics on August 2, 2002 at MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The Mystics won 67-65. 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 2002 WNBAE (Photo by Mitchell Layton/WNBAE/Getty Images) /

2001: Jackie Stiles

In 2001, Lauren Jackson was selected first overall for the Seattle Storm. Kelly Miller went second to Charlotte, followed by Tamika Catchings to Indiana third, though she didn’t play until 2002 to recover from an ACL injury she sustained while playing at the University of Tennessee. The Rookie of the Year, though, came in the form of the fourth overall pick, Southwest Missouri State’s own and at that time the NCAA’s new all-time leading scorer, Jackie Stiles.

Stiles came in to the league hot off her record 3,393 college points to a Portland Fire team in their second year and coming off just ten wins. Seattle, too, was in their second season and looking to build a stronger season after six wins in 2000.

Coming off a Cinderella Final Four run, the fan and media excitement behind Stiles was electric, the question was if her scoring would translate to the WNBA.

After an inefficient start, she caught her stride a few weeks in to her rookie season, leading all rookies in scoring for the majority of the summer. A particularly hot stretch of four games averaging 20.3 points on 52.6% shooting earned her WNBA Player of the Week honors on July 1, 2001.

Her main competition was Jackson, who as a bigger player was also adjusting to the physicality of the league. Regardless, both were named All Stars in the first season, a testament to their contributions out of the gate.

In early August, Stiles re-injured her wrist in the midst of what would finish as a 10-game losing streak for the Fire, and her production took a hit. Jackson finished the season as the leading scorer among all rookies (15.2 points per game), just ahead of stiles (14.9). Stiles’ 1.7 assists edged out Jackson’s 1.5, and she shot the ball better from the field, shooting 40.5% from the field and 43.1% from three.

The Fire finished out the season 11-21, just ahead of the Storm’s 10-22, both at the bottom of the Western Conference. The early momentum was enough to earn Stiles the Rookie of the Year nod, with 32 votes to Jackson’s 20. Marie Ferdinand (5), Svetlana Abrosimova (2), and Ruth Riley (1) rounded out rookie vote-getters.

After their rookie season…

Injuries plagued Stiles’ career, limiting her in 2002, which would be the Fire’s last season before folding. She was selected by Los Angeles in the ensuing Dispersal Draft, but she never played in the WNBA after her second year.

Marie Ferdinand (now Ferdinand-Harris) went on to play 10 seasons in the WNBA, getting three All-Star nods along the way. Abrosimova also played 10 seasons, mostly with the Minnesota Lynx, but she ended her career in 2010 with Jackson and WNBA champion Seattle Storm.

Riley found success after being selected by the Detroit Shock in the Dispersal Draft following the folding of the Miami Sol. She was Finals MVP in 2003 as part of the Shock’s first championship run, and she got her only All Star selection in 2005. She won another title with the Shock in 2006 before finishing her career in San Antonio, followed by short stints in Chicago and then Atlanta in 2013.

Jackson went on to a Hall of Fame career in the WNBA, helping lead the Storm to two titles (2004, 2010), tying a league record with three MVPs (2003, 2007, 2010) in her 12 seasons. She was an All Star seven times, a seven-time All-WNBA First Team member, three-time scoring champion, 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, and a member of the WNBA’s All-Decade Team (2006), Top 15 Team (2011), and the Top 20@20 (2016). Her No. 15 has since been retired by the Storm.

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