Gators' Kiara Smith Drafted by Connecticut Sun in 2022 WNBA Draft

The Florida Gators will be sending one of their own into the WNBA after Kiara Smith was selected by the Connecticut Sun.

Florida Gators women's basketball guard Kiara Smith was selected with the 36th overall pick in the WNBA Draft last night, becoming the 19th Gator to be selected in the WNBA draft and the first Florida women's basketball selected since Ronnie Williams in 2017, selected by the Indiana Fever.

𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗗! 💯

Congratulations to @_KillerKii for being drafted to the @ConnecticutSun! 🐊#GoGators pic.twitter.com/qkjb81nNBx

— Gators Women’s Basketball (@GatorsWBK) April 12, 2022

Smith is also the first Florida athlete to be selected by the Sun and was the only Florida basketball player selected in the WNBA draft last night. 

Smith, a graduate student, played three years with Florida after transferring in from ASA College in New York where she spent two seasons. After overcoming injuries, Smith became one of the best players and most consistent scorers on the court for Florida, starting all 30 games played last year while averaging 14.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

She would later be named First Team All-SEC and picked up SEC All-Defensive Team Honors. Smith led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.

Smith will end her career at Florida ranked 12th in total points scored all-time with 1,508 points, fifth in free throws made (34), fifth in total steals (220), fourth in total assists (438), third in total starts (116), third in consecutive starts (106) and third in minutes played (3,983).

The highest-drafted player in Flordia women's basketball history was Murriel Page in 1998, who joined Washington after being selected in the first round with the third-overall pick.

Moving forward, Florida women's basketball will enjoy several more seasons under the leadership of coach Kelly Rae Finley, who shed her interim tag during the year and was named the team's permanent head coach on Feb 28. this year. She had severed as the team's interim since July.

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