Southland players flavor WNBA draft

CLEVELAND —  Two and possibly three prospects with Southern California ties could be selected in the WNBA draft today before it’s the Sparks’ turn to pick.

Guards Noelle Quinn of UCLA, Shay Murphy of USC and Lyndsey Medders of Iowa State, who played at Torrance Bishop Montgomery, North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake and Oak Park high schools, all could be off the board before the Sparks are on the clock.

The Sparks will pick 25th in what is generally considered a lackluster draft after trading away their first-round pick, the 12th overall, in the February deal that brought veteran forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin from the Connecticut Sun.

Doris Burke, ESPN women’s basketball analyst, said it would be a “major challenge” for many of the drafted players to make WNBA rosters this summer.

Barring an 11th-hour change of heart by sophomore Candace Parker of Tennessee or junior Sylvia Fowles of Louisiana State, who have until three hours before the draft to make themselves available, the top picks are expected to include Jessica Davenport of Ohio State, Lindsay Harding and Alison Bales of Duke, Armintie Price of Mississippi and Ivory Latta of North Carolina.

“Although there aren’t a lot of stars in it,” Sun Coach Mike Thibault said of the draft pool, “you have a lot of really good basketball players.”

Paul Westhead of the Phoenix Mercury, which will pick first barring a late trade, saw a lot of Quinn and Murphy during the college season.

He called Quinn “a terrific passer” and “kind of an all-purpose player who does a little bit of everything very well.” Murphy, he added, is “maybe a tad faster” and “sometimes shoots downtown very well; she can shoot the three.”

Burke was even more bullish on the USC scoring leader.

“From a scoring standpoint, Shay brings a lot of different dimensions,” Burke said. “Her perimeter shooting has been a little bit inconsistent over the course of her career, but I just like her ability and will to score. When you look at her frame, she’s clearly prepared from a physical standpoint to compete in the WNBA. That, for the most part, is a major adjustment for people coming out of college.”

Medders, meanwhile, was a surprising omission from the list of 22 prospects invited to Cleveland for today’s selection process, an indication that interest in the All-Big 12 Conference guard has fallen. Though a skilled playmaker and three-point shooter, her athleticism and ability to defend have been questioned.

Still, Burke described Medders as “an intriguing prospect.”

jerome.crowe@latimes.com

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Today’s draft

The first-round order for today’s WNBA draft in Cleveland:

*--* 1. Phoenix 8. Houston 2. San Antonio 9. Indiana 3. Chicago 10. Chicago 4. Minnesota 11. Detroit 5. New York 12. Connecticut 6. Washington 13. Connecticut 7. Seattle Note: The Sparks’ selections are 25th and 38th overall.

*--*