Andover’s Jaylyn Agnew drafted by defending champions in second round of WNBA draft
Andover native Jaylyn Agnew fulfilled her dream on Friday night of being drafted in the WNBA.
Even better, Agnew, a 5-foot-11 forward who just wrapped up a stellar college career at Creighton, was drafted by the defending WNBA champions, the Washington Mystics, with the No. 24 overall pick in the second round.
Agnew is the second Wichita-area player to reach the WNBA, following another Andover native in Tiffany Bias, who was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in the second round of the 2014 WNBA Draft. Agnew is also the first player from Creighton to be drafted in the WNBA.
Agnew was the Big East Player of the Year this past season and earned honorable mention All-American honors. She led Creighton in scoring (20.8 points per game), rebounds (6.3), assists and blocks. She also set the program’s single-game scoring record on senior day in her final home game with a career-high 43 points. Agnew also finished first in the nation in free-throw accuracy at 95% and ended her career making her final 52 attempts.
“You want it to happen, but you just never know,” Agnew said. “You hope what you did throughout my career and my senior year didn’t go unnoticed and they think I can compete at the next level. But there’s no guarantees.
“It’s just been super exciting to be part of this and go through the process and see my name on the screen.”
She watched the draft on television with her family, and it wasn’t until she saw her name scrolling on the bottom line after pick No. 24 that she realized her WNBA dream had come true.
“Everybody was screaming,” said Jay Agnew, her father. “Jaylyn didn’t really know what was going on. It was so awesome. It was a very exciting moment for us.”
Jay Agnew said that his daughter’s agent had told them to be prepared to be selected in that range of the draft, even though many projections did not have Agnew being taken until the third and final round — if at all. But Washington was the first team she had a Zoom meeting with, so she was hopeful that they would be her landing spot.
Agnew said that the coaching staff told her that they liked her three-point range (she made 3.3 threes per game on 37% accuracy this last season at Creighton) and her wingspan at 5-11 that should allow her to defend multiple positions.
It is still sinking in for Agnew that she is now teammates with Elena Delle Donne, a two-time WNBA MVP who she has idolized for years.
“That’s the first thing I texted my assistant coach about,” Jaylyn Agnew said, laughing. “I’m going to be in the same training camp as Elena Delle Donne. I’m going to be in the same vicinity as her. I’ve followed her on Instagram since I don’t know how long. It’s going to be hard not to be a little starstruck.”
Her father wasn’t surprised.
He’s watched his daughter be competitive in sports from a young age. After a successful three-sport career at Andover, she blossomed into a star at the Division I level for Creighton. Whatever challenge is in front of her, she’s going to attack it until she achieves her goal. The WNBA was just the next goal and being a perfectionist, his daughter wasn’t going to stop until she reached it.
“We’re so proud of her,” Jay Agnew said. “She did all of the hard work. She put in the time and the effort. We just put the support in and the encouragement, she did the rest. Her coaches did a great job of helping her advance her skills. We just wanted to be there with support whatever she wanted to do.”
At Andover, Agnew was an all-Metro volleyball player in the fall, an all-state basketball player in the winter, and a four-time state champion in the high jump in track and field in the spring. In fact, Agnew never lost a high jump competition in her four years with the Trojans.
Her former high school basketball coach, Max Hamblin, was overjoyed to see his former player reach the pinnacle on Friday.
“I’m over here jumping with joy,” Hamblin said. “I’m telling you, this is the best experience I’ve had in my 38 years of coaching. She’s just an incredible kid. A great teammate. She worked hard all the time. Her work ethic is what got her here.”
Hamblin said it was evident in high school that Agnew was special with her work ethic and athleticism. But did he ever think a WNBA career was in her future?
Maybe not while she was at Andover, but certainly when she developed and matured into the player she became at Creighton.
“I was there the game she set the scoring record and it was just like, ‘Wow, she’s really got a chance at this,’” Hamblin said. “I think the best thing that happened to her was redshirting that first year at Creighton. That gave her time to mature and develop. And then she just worked hard at it. This couldn’t happen to a better kid.”
Agnew said that redshirt year her first year in college was crucial.
It made her question if she was good enough to ever become the player she wanted to be at that level and made her work even harder to attain it.
“There’s a bunch of questions that go through your head when you redshirt,” Jaylyn Agnew said. “You come in thinking you’re good enough to play right away, but with the veterans that we had I wasn’t probably going to play a ton. But I grew so much mentally and in my skill set that year and that really helped me for the rest of my career.”
But to play in the WNBA? For the defending champions? With Elena Delle Donne?
If you would have told Agnew that even five years ago, she wouldn’t have believed you.
“For sure,” Agnew said, laughing. “It would sound insane to me back then.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 8:39 PM.
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