Abl Draft -- Reign Leaves Its Trade Mark -- Deals, Picks Make Seattle Team Quicker

If creativity was the sole criteria, the Seattle Reign would be the clear-cut champion of the American Basketball League's 1997 draft.

Three trades, two dramatic and one philanthropic, punctuated the performance of Reign General Manager Jim Weyermann and Coach Jacquie Hullah yesterday as nine ABL teams completed six rounds.

-- Trade No. 1: The Reign swapped Tari Phillips, who averaged 14.0 points and 7.4 rebounds and sang a mean national anthem last season, and a third-round pick acquired earlier from Long Beach for Cindy Brown, to Colorado for the Xplosion's first-round pick and forward Charlotte Smith.

With the pick, the Reign took Alabama senior Shalonda Enis, a 6-foot-1 forward who averaged 20.1 points and 9.1 rebounds during two seasons with the Crimson Tide.

-- Trade No. 2: The Reign packaged the just-acquired Smith with its third-round choice and traded them and $20,000 to San Jose for front-liner Val Whiting, who averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds last season, and the Lasers' fourth-round pick. That is the same Val Whiting who tormented the Washington Huskies for four years at Stanford.

When the Reign assembles in September for practice, it will have the top two scorers in Stanford's distinguished basketball history - Kate Starbird, Seattle's first-round pick as a regional selection, and Whiting. They will be joined by ex-Cardinal guards Kate Paye and Christy Hedgpeth, who were Seattle starters last season.

-- Trade No. 3: The Reign traded its fifth-round choice to Richmond for the Rage's fifth-round pick next season. Weyermann said Seattle didn't need the choice, so why draft someone knowing she probably would not make the team.

Philanthropy does have its limits, however. The Reign used its sixth-round pick to take Tennessee senior Pashen Thompson.

Trades alone did not cover all of the Reign's imaginative bases.

In the second round, Seattle chose Astou Ndiaye, a 6-foot-3 forward from Senegal who led Southern Nazarene of Oklahoma to the past four NAIA national championships.

"She is the sleeper of the draft," Hullah said.

And the Reign took guards at opposite ends of the team's age ladder - Yvette Angel, 33, who is a high-school coach, and Kira Orr, 21, a Duke senior who favored the rival WNBA. But when Orr wasn't taken in the recent WNBA draft, she became eligible for the ABL.

Hullah said she can see Angel and Orr battling for the backup point-guard role behind Paye.

Overall? "We're quicker," Hullah said. "We're better ballhandlers.

"We're going to go with more of a three-guard, two-post offense, and Shalonda Enis is really key to this because she's such a great passer and has three-point shooting ability."

Hullah talked about Enis playing a high post with Whiting or holdovers Linda Godby and Rhonda Smith playing underneath.

Angela Aycock and Starbird, both 6-2, are solid candidates for the wing roles.

"They can both pass, handle the ball, shoot the three and get out and run," Hullah said. "Or we could be looking at Joy Holmes at that swing postion, at 5-10, who hammers the boards, steals and blocks shots.

"And Christy (Hedgpeth) is coming back strong from her knee surgery."

--------- ABL DRAFT ---------

ROUND 1 1, Long Beach, Yolanda Griffith, C, 6-4, Florida Atlantic. 2, Portland, DeLisha Milton, F/C, 6-1, Florida. 3, New England, Kara Wolters, C, 6-7, Connecticut (regional pick). 4, Seattle, Kate Starbird, G, 6-2, Stanford (regional pick). 5, Atlanta, Tracy Henderson, C, 6-3, Georgia (regional pick). 6, San Jose, Clarisse Machanguana, C, 6-5, Old Dominion. 7, Seattle (from Colorado), Shalonda Enis, F-C, 6-1, Alabama. 8, Richmond, La'Keshia Frett, F, 6-3, Georgia (regional pick). 9, New England (from Columbus), Dale Hodges, G-F, 6-1, St. Joseph's.

ROUND 2 10, Long Beach, Beverly Williams, Texas. 11, Portland, LaTicia Morris, Auburn. 12, Columbus (from New England), Angie Potthoff, Penn State. 13, Seattle, Astou Ndaiye, Southern Nazarene. 14, Atlanta, Cathy Boswell, Illinois State. 15, San Jose, Kedra Holland-Corn, Georgia. 16, Colorado, Keisha Anderson, Wisconsin. 17, Richmond, Beth Morgan, Notre Dame. 18, New England (from Columbus), Deanna Tate, Maryland.

ROUND 3 19, Colorado (from Seattle, Long Beach), Dana Wynne, Seton Hall. 20, Portland, Elaine Powell, LSU. 21, New England, Carla Berube, Connecticut. 22, San Jose (from Seattle), Katryna Gaither, Notre Dame. 23, Atlanta, Abby Conklin, Tennessee. 24, San Jose, Kisa Bradley, Oral Roberts. 25, Colorado, Missy Masley, Penn State. 26, Richmond, Michelle Campbell, USC. 27, Columbus, Jannon Roland, Purdue (regional pick).

ROUND 4 28, Long Beach, Necole Tunsil, Iowa. 29, Portland, Erin Scholz, Colorado. 30, Columbus (from New England), Latina Davis, Tennessee. 31, Seattle, Yvette Angel, Ohio State. 32, Atlanta, Boky Vidic, Oregon State. 33, Seattle (from San Jose), Kira Orr, Duke. 34, Colorado, Traci Thirdgill, Washington. 35, Richmond, Dana Wilkerson, Long Beach State. 36, New England (from Columbus), Sandra Hodge, New Orleans.

ROUND 5 37, Long Beach, Ingrid Dixson, California. 38, Portland, Markita Aldridge, N.C.-Charlotte. 39, New England, Corissa Yassen, Purdue. 40, Richmond (from Seattle), Milica Vukadinovic, California. 41, Atlanta, Amy Cherubini, Indiana. 42, San Jose, Laurie Byrd, Eastern Michigan. 43, Colorado, Mara Cunningham, Vanderbilt. 44, Richmond, Amy Mallon, St. Joseph's. 45, Long Beach (from Columbus), Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil, Texas.

ROUND 6 46, Columbus (from Long Beach), Shanele Stires, Kansas State. 47, Portland, Charmin Smith, Stanford. 48, New England, Wendy Davis, Connecticut. 49, Seattle (from Columbus), Pashen Thompson, Tennessee. 50, Columbus (from Atlanta), Adrian Jones, Kansas State. 51, San Jose, Jamillah Lang, Colorado. 52, Colorado passed. 53, Richmond, Esther Benjamin, Old Dominion. 54, Atlanta passed.