The latest group of Mississippi State women”s basketball players to reach the WNBA is down to one.
The San Antonio Silver Stars released former MSU standout Alexis Rack and forward Krystal Vaughn on Monday.
Rack, a 5-foot-7 guard, played 2 minutes, 50 seconds Saturday in an 86-77 victory against the Los Angeles Sparks. She had three turnovers and committed one foul.
Boris Lelchitski, the agent for Rack and former MSU teammates Armelie Lumanu and Chanel Mokango, said Monday he talked with Rack and Silver Stars General Manager Dan Hughes about the move.
“She needs to get experience playing in the pros and overseas and play more as a point guard,” Lelchitski said. “She needs to get some experience running a team because she can score and she can shoot the ball.”
Lelchitski said he will try to get Rack and Lumanu, a 5-9 guard, roster spots in the new Women”s United States Basketball Association, a 12-team league that will start June 5 and run through Aug. 28. Each team in the league, which is based in Atlanta, will play a 28-game schedule. The WUSBA hopes to be a blend of the WNBA, NCAA, and European leagues.
The teams will be split into the Atlantic and Appalachian Divisions. The Jacksonville (Fla.) Surf will compete in the Atlantic with the Charleston Ca-dets, the Charlotte Blue Wave, the Columbia Breeze, the Richmond Blaze and the Savannah Seahawks. In the Appalachian Division are the Augusta Raging River, the Atlanta Platinum, the Birmingham Starz, the Louisville Storm, the West Virginia Capitals, and the Chattanooga Royal.
Players are expected to receive a compensation package that includes $300 per week, a daily meal at Golden Corral Buffet, the league”s official sponsor, housing and commissions on sponsorship sales, according to a league press release.
The Silver Stars picked Rack in the second round with the 29th overall pick. Rack played point and shooting guard this past season and paced the Lady Bulldogs in scoring (17.5 points per game) and led the team with 108 3-pointers and 154 assists. She was second on the team in steals (71).
For her career, Rack, a first-team All-SEC pick by the league coaches and a second-team pick by the Associated Press this season, finished as the program”s No. 3 all-time leading scorer with 1,756 points. She owns the program and SEC record for most 3-pointers made in a career (340) and in a season (108).
The Indiana Fever drafted Lumanu in the second round with the 23rd overall pick last month in the WNBA draft. But the team cut the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year on April 30.
The Atlanta Dream selected Mokango, a 6-5 center, with the No. 9 pick in the first round. Mokango scored four points Sunday in the Atlanta Dream”s 77-58 loss to the Washington Mystics.
MSU, which is coming off its first appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, was one of just two programs (Oklahoma was the other) that had three players selected in the WNBA draft. It was the first time MSU had multiple players selected in one draft, and the third time a Lady Bulldog had been selected in the first round.
The WNBA opens its season Saturday. Atlanta will play San Antonio as part of the league”s slate of five opening-day games.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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