Portland Fire take Pride
■ Portland’s new WNBA franchise chooses former Kansas
standout Lynn Pride as the seventh pick overall but lose local
star Katy Steading in the league’s fourth draft
By Landon Hall
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — Draft day was
a mixed blessing for the expan
sion Portland Fire, which got
some players it wanted but also
lost a valuable one.
Portland, which begins its
first WNBA season May 31
against the three-time defend
ing champion Houston Comets,
chose Kansas forward Lynn
Pride with its first-round selec
tion Tuesday morning.
Pride, a versatile 6-foot-2
player who averaged 17.4
points per game last season,
, was the No. 7 overall choice in
what was considered a weak
draft.
. “I feel very fortunate that
we’re going to be able to build
this franchise over the long haul
with a player the caliber of
Lynn Pride,” said Fire coach
and general manager Linda Har
grove.
Hargrove was hoping that
guard Katy Steding, who played
high school ball in Lake Os
wego and was a member of the
Portland Power in the defunct
American Basketball League,
would be available in the sec
ond round, when the Fire was
due to pick 23rd.
However, Steding was picked
by the Sacramento Monarchs
late in the first round.
“Katy will do a great job in
Sacramento,” Hargrove said.
“That’s a really nice fit for her.”
Steding, 32, went to work for
the Fire as community liaison
^ I feel very fortunate
that we're going to be
able to build this fran
chise over the long haul
with a player the caliber
of Lynn Pride.
Linda Hargrove
coach and
general manager
in August 1999, eight months
after the ABL folded. She sat
out the 1999 WNBA season.
With its second pick, the Fire
chose Stacey Thomas, a 5-10
forward from Michigan who av
eraged 14.5 points last season.
In the third round, with the
39th pick, Portland selected
Maxann Reese, a 5-9 guard from
Michigan State who averaged
16 points and shot 86 percent
from the free throw line.
Rhonda Smith, a 6-8 center,
was the team’s fourth round
pick. She averaged 21.1 points
and 7.4 rebounds at Long Beach
State, and led the nation with
3.5 blocks per game.
Hargrove said Pride and
Thomas will make the team and
be asked to contribute immedi
ately. The other two players
will have to prove themselves
in training camp, which begins
May 3.
“I can look at Lynn Pride
right now and know she’s going
to be a defensive star on this
team,” Hargrove said.
The nucleus of the Fire’s ros
ter really was formed during the
Dec. 15 expansion draft. That’s
when the team picked up for
ward Alisa Burras from Cleve
land and guard Sophia Wither
spoon, a two-time WNBA
All-Star with New York.
Portland still could acquire
more players. The league’s 16
teams will send their list of de
sired free agents to the WNBA
on Sunday, and the league will
assign some to each team. The
Fire will also hold open tryouts
Saturday and Sunday.
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