Former Georgia Tech forward Lorela Cubaj doesn’t know where her future will take her. But she’ll find out Monday, when the WNBA holds its draft.
As the days count down, Cubaj called it exciting but also nerve-racking.
“It’s kind of like I have an unknown future,” Cubaj told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “But at the same time, I’m just excited to see that people are actually interested in me. I feel blessed and so thankful that I have this opportunity because it’s kind of like a dream come true for me. I cannot wait to see where I end up going.”
Various mock drafts have Cubaj going at the end of the first round or in the second round of the three-round, 36-player draft. Tech has not had a player taken in the WNBA draft since Tyaunna Marshall in 2014. The most recent first-round selection was Sasha Goodlett in 2012.
Cubaj said that she had had conversations with a few teams in the past two weeks.
“It’s been more personal questions, meaning, like, they want to get to know me more as a person and also basketball questions and kind of understanding where I see myself and what I need to improve and what I think I do best, stuff like that,” she said.
Cubaj was named the ACC defensive player of the year for the second year in a row by finishing second in Division I in defensive rebounds at 9.1 per game (and 16th in overall rebounding at 11.1 per game). She also ranked seventh in the ACC in blocked shots per game with 1.3. She completed her career with the most rebounds in team history and earned honorable-mention All-American status for the second year in a row. Taking charges, challenging shots, deflecting passes and holding down the defensive glass all were part of the job.
And, while not a dominating scorer (she averaged 10.0 points per game), she ranked third in the ACC in assists (4.3 per game) and first in assist/turnover ratio (2.1). Of the top 15 players in assists in the ACC, Cubaj was the only non-guard and by four inches (she’s 6-foot-4) the tallest player in the group.
She is rare in being a ferocious rebounder and skilled ballhandler at the same time.
In her fifth, extra season of eligibility, “I would say that I definitely consolidated the defensive side of my game,” Cubaj said. “On offense, I have more court vision and am more versatile. I can pretty much bring the ball up if it’s needed for me to do so, and I think I can play different positions on the floor.”
She looked back with satisfaction on the Jackets’ 21-11 season, which included a historic rout of eventual national finalist Connecticut in December and the highest AP Top 25 ranking in team history (11th) but also a first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament.
“I think overall we had really good highs and, of course, we had some problems that I think every team has and faces sometimes,” she said. “To me, at the end of the day, it was a good season. We reached our goal, which was March Madness. Of course, we wanted to advance, but at the end of the day, we just have to look back and look at the fact that we had some really great games during the season, and we really showed that we are a really good team.”
It’s her hope to play in an international league after the WNBA season. Playing in her home country of Italy is a possibility, but she said she’ll keep her options open.
On Monday, she’ll be with family in Montreal (where relatives on her father’s side live), including her parents, waiting to see where she’ll take the next steps in her basketball journey.
“Honestly, I don’t have a specific place I want to be in,” Cubaj said. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity, and wherever I land, I just know that I’m going to try to be the best version of myself that I can be.”
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