Trade for Kalana Greene Highlights Sun Draft
April 11, 2011 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Connecticut Sun News Release
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (April 11, 2011) - The Connecticut Sun executed a pair of trades during Monday's WNBA Draft, including a swap with the New York Liberty landed former UConn star Kalana Greene.
The Sun dealt Texas A&M rookie guard Sydney Colson, selected with the 16th overall pick in Monday's draft, to the Liberty in exchange for Greene. The move reunites Greene with former UConn teammates Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery, giving the Sun a youthful core that also includes Kelsey Griffin, Allison Hightower and Danielle McCray - all members of Connecticut's 2010 draft class.
"We've been trying to do a couple of things with New York, knowing they had - between Nicole Powell, Kalana Greene, Essence Carson and Sidney Spencer - too many people at the same position," coach Mike Thibault said, explaining the reasoning behind the deal he worked out with Liberty coach John Whisenant. "John wanted another point guard and post somewhere in the draft. He wanted to take Sidney Colson, so it was just something that worked out."
Selected 13th overall in the 2010 WNBA Draft, Greene appeared in 33 games as a rookie for the Liberty, averaging 4.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game, shooting 46.4 percent from the field. She had a career-high 17 points in a 77-72 win over San Antonio on July 27th .
"We were hoping to get (Greene) in last year's draft, if she had gone a couple of more positions down," Thibault said. "She was kind of between our picks. I felt that she proved last year that she could play in the league and do certain things. I always liked her in college. Last year, we felt we needed what Danielle McCray brought with that pick for the future. Now, we've kind of got the bonus of getting them both. We had to wait a year for both, but we got them both. I'm very happy."
So was Charles, who was on hand for the draft.
"I'm really excited she's coming" Charles said. "She's going to be a great addition to the team. Just her work ethic, and her leadership skills, and just what she wants for herself and knowing she has that mentality that we had at Connecticut, that there's no exception but championships. It's going to be great."
Connecticut, which traded its 2011 first-round pick - fourth overall in this year's draft - to Minnesota, added more length in the third round by selecting Louisiana Tech forward Adrienne Johnson. The Sun closed out the draft by trading a third-round pick in 2012 to Phoenix for 5-9 Nevada guard Tahnee Robinson.
"Adrienne Johnson is a 6-foot-1 forward who can play three (small forward), played four (power forward) in college," Thibault said of Johnson. "She plays both. She's very athletic."
The 2011 WAC Player of the Year, Johnson averaged 22 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, reaching double figures in 30 of 31 games with 14 double-doubles. She had 30 points and 11 rebounds in an upset of Georgia on December 29th , and led the Lady Techsters in scoring 25 times.
"It's great," Johnson said of having the chance to play in Connecticut. "I'm very anxious to get up there. I've never been to Connecticut, but I hear it's a very nice place...The whole day, I was really anxious, and it was an intense feeling of relief (to get drafted). It's a dream come true."
Robinson ranked ninth in the country in scoring this season, averaging a team-high 22.1 points per game while also pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game for the Wolf Pack.
The Connecticut Sun will open its ninth season at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, June 4th , hosting the Washington Mystics at 7 p.m. Sun individual tickets, season tickets, mini plans and groups for the 2011 season are currently on sale and can be reserved by calling a Sun Ticket Sales Representative at 1.877.SUN.TIXX or by e-mailing the Sun at tickets@connecticutsun.com. To purchase season tickets online, visit http://tinyurl.com/sunseasontickets2011 . To purchase a Big Game mini plan, visit http://tinyurl.com/biggame11 , a Weekend mini plans at http://tinyurl.com/weekend11 or Pick A Plan at http://tinyurl.com/pickaplan11 .
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from April 11, 2011
- Lynx Add Two Local Products in Today's 2011 WNBA Draft - Minnesota Lynx
- Ta'Shia Phillips Traded to Mystics - Washington Mystics
- Atlanta Dream Acquires All-Star Guard Lindsey Harding from Washington Mystics - Atlanta Dream
- Trade for Kalana Greene Highlights Sun Draft - Connecticut Sun
- Chicago Sky Selects Courtney Vandersloot Third Overall in 2011 WNBA Draft - Chicago Sky
- Storm Selects Thomas in First Round of 2011 WNBA Draft - Seattle Storm
- Mercury Selects Brittany Spears in Second Round of the 2011 WNBA - Phoenix Mercury
- Washington Mystics Select Victoria Dunlap - Washington Mystics
- Atlanta Dream Selects Ta'shia Phillips in 2011 WNBA Draft - Atlanta Dream
- Moore, Cambage, Vandersloot Selected with Top Three Picks in 2011 WNBA Draft - WNBA
- Jantel Lavender Highlights Los Angeles Sparks' 2011 WNBA Draft - Los Angeles Sparks
- New York Liberty Selects Montgomery, Breland, Colson and Valentine in 2011 WNBA Draft - New York Liberty
- Stanford Point Guard Pohlen Highlight's Fever Draft - Indiana Fever
- Indiana Selects Jeanette Pohlen in First Round of WNBA Draft - Indiana Fever
- Lynx Select Two-Time Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Amber Harris with Fourth Overall Pick in the 201 - Minnesota Lynx
- Lynx Select Three-Time Wade Trophy Winner and Four-Time All-American Maya Moore - Minnesota Lynx
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