NEW YORK, N.Y. — No other school will have more former players take the floor to start this year’s WNBA All-Star game than Notre Dame.
On Sunday, the WNBA announced this year’s collection of All Stars, all of whom will head to Las Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena on July 15 for the game. Among the 10 starters are former Irish guards Jewell Loyd, Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young. They currently play for the Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings and Las Vegas Aces, respectively, and they were the three highest vote-getting guards in the league. There are two former South Carolina players among the 10 starters, and five other schools — Baylor, Duke, Oregon, Stanford and UConn — have one starter each.
Players were selected independent of conference affiliation. Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the starters, and current WNBA players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each. After votes were counted, players were ranked by position, with the top-four guards and top-six frontcourt players earning starting spots. The league’s coaches will name 12 reserve players on Saturday.
This year’s contest will be Loyd’s fifth, Ogunbowale’s third and Young’s second. Ogunbowale was the game’s MVP in 2021 after posting 26 points.
Few teams have had answers for Loyd, Ogunbowale and Young this regular season. As of Saturday, June 24, all three ranked in the top-five in scoring in the WNBA: Loyd (first at 25.4 points per game), Ogunbowale (third at 22.7 points per game) and Young (fifth at 20.2 points per game). Loyd also leads the league in made threes per game at 3.4, and Ogunbowale is third with 2.9.