Whitney Hand, Redshirt Senior, Guard, Oklahoma
Overview:
This top 15 nationally ranked player from Texas in 2008-09 came out of the blocks flying in her freshman year becoming just the seventh freshman player under Sooner head coach Sherri Coale to start her first career game against UC Riverside. Hand scored just under 10 points a game, started all 33 games and was named to Big 12 All-Freshman team in 2009. In 2009-10, Whitney’s season was cut short due to an ACL injury in a game against San Diego State in the US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. Before the injury, Hand was well on her way to what probably would have been an all Big-12 and potential All-American honors as she was averaging nearly 14 points per contest.
Hand completed her recovery from the ACL injury on January 2, 2011 in her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas against TCU by posting 24 points and 11 rebounds. Whitney led the Sooners in minutes per game after her return at 34.8 minutes a night. On the offensive side of things, Hand came back strong with 12.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in leading the Sooners back to the Sweet 16.
Final Projection:
This draft eligible junior is a wild card candidate for the 2012 WNBA Draft. If she were to come out she would definitely be a top 15 draft pick at minimum to start the season. And if she, as expected, builds on last year’s performance after she returned to the lineup then the sky is the limit for Whitney Hand’s draft stock and could lead to a rare early entry for the WNBA Draft in 2012.
