Duke basketball: Leaonna Odom selected by New York Liberty in draft

Leaonna Odom’s dreams are coming true as the Duke basketball star was selected in the WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty.

From Durham to Brooklyn, Leaonna Odom is headed to New York after being drafted by the New York Liberty in Friday’s WNBA Draft.

Odom was the No. 15 overall selection and the No. 3 selection in the second round.

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The New York Liberty made a major trade on Thursday that landed the team with five of the first fifteen picks.

New York’s most notable pick was at No. 1 overall after winning the draft lottery and taking Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu.

Including Odom and Ionescu, the Liberty also selected Connecticut’s Megan Walker and Louisville stars Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook.

The 6-foot-2 forward played in 28 games in her senior season, starting 26, and averaged 14.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game on 54.7 percent shooting and 37.5 percent from 3-point range, despite only attempting eight such shots.

The California native was selected to the All-ACC Second Team in her senior season.

Odom was one of the stars that led Duke to an 18-12 record (12-6 ACC), finishing third place in the regular season, but the year prematurely ended in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in a loss to Boston College.

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The Lady Blue Devils were primed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 season as Odom scored 20 points or more in three of five tournament games played.

Over Leaonna Odom’s four years at Duke, she averaged 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game on 53.0 percent shooting while finishing her career with 1,387 points, 599 field goals made, and a total of 3,716 played, all near the top of the Duke women’s basketball leaderboards.

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COVID-19 has forced the WNBA to delay the start of training camp, scheduled to begin next week, and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said during the draft that the league is anticipating playing a full season once it is safe for all involved.