South Carolina's Laeticia Amihere selected No. 8 in 2023 WNBA Draft by Atlanta Dream
Laeticia Amihere became the second South Carolina women's basketball selected in the 2023 WNBA Draft on Monday. She was drafted with the No. 8 pick by the Atlanta Dream.
Amihere did not start for the Gamecocks in 2022-23, and she became the first non-starter drafted in the first round since UConn's Azura Stevens in 2018. She averaged 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 49% from the field in 15.9 minutes per game this season.
The Mississauga, Ontario, native is a member of the Canadian women's national team. Amihere played for Team Canada during the 2022 FIBA World Cup, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup. She also helped the Gamecocks to their first undefeated regular season in program history and a third consecutive Final Four appearance in 2023.
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Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve, who also coaches the Minnesota Lynx, said Amihere impressed her when her squad faced Canada in the 2022 World Cup semifinals.
"I think she gets a lot of credit for being a very smart player who can play multiple positions," Reeve said Thursday. "What the skill set actually is, I think she's still sort of defining who (she is) going to be as a player, but I've seen her change games with her ability to be aggressive. She has no fear. She's ambitious in the way that she chooses to attack defenders and has a natural confidence there."
The Dream are an up-and-coming franchise, though they have not reached the WNBA playoffs since 2018 and finished tied for ninth in the league last year. Rhyne Howard, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, led Atlanta in scoring last season to earned Rookie of the Year honors, and the roster features several promising young players including two-time All-American Naz Hillmon, 2021 All-Rookie team selection Aari McDonald and 2019 No. 2 pick AD Durr.
Despite its 14-22 record, Atlanta ranked top-5 in defensive rating last season. Amihere was a mainstay in the Gamecocks' defensive dominance, and she will fit seamlessly into a system that allowed the second-fewest paint points of any team in the league.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: 2023 WNBA Draft: Laeticia Amihere selected No. 8 by Atlanta Dream
