The Dream selected Texas A&M guard Chennedy Carter with the No. 4 pick in the WNBA draft Friday.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Chennedy and her family to the ATL,” said Dream head coach Nicki Collen. “Chennedy is a gifted scorer, possessing great speed, skill and strength with the ball in her hands.”
Carter said she was excited to get to work, meet her teammates and learn in Atlanta.
“I feel like this is my moment, my time’s here,” she said on ESPN.
Carter, who entered the draft as a junior, is a three-time All-American and leaves A&M as the second all-time leading scorer. She ranked second in the SEC and sixth in the nation as she led the Aggies with 21.3 points per game in 2019-20.
Carter is explosive off the dribble and has the proven ability to turn up her game when needed – something she’s done across regular season and NCAA tournament games. While on ESPN’s Around the Rim podcast in March, she said Damian Lillard is the player she strives to play like because of his demeanor, how hard he plays, and his confidence.
“He pulls it and shoots from anywhere, I think that’s a player I model my game after,” she said.
While Carter’s dynamic ability to score and confidence to create and hit shots are often most touted, earlier this week Collen called her an underrated passer.
“I think she played in a system where she was expected to score. She was needed to score,” Collen said. “You know, they played a lot of half-court basketball, but I don't think she's incapable of playing the point as she did as a freshman. It's just been so long since we really saw her in that role.”
After a busy offseason, which the front office used to essentially retool the team, the Dream's biggest need was at point guard – someone to create scoring opportunities for the newly acquired Courtney Williams and Shekinna Stricklen or for a team veteran such as Tiffany Hayes.
Carter scored 34 points in Texas A&M’s loss to USA Basketball last fall.
“Chennedy obviously had a huge game against USA Basketball, and I think, you know, proved that she can play with and against the best in the world,” Collen said.
The Dream picked forward Brittany Brewer of Texas Tech in the second round and added Clemson forward Kobi Thornton and Oregon State guard Mikayla Pivec in the third round.
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