Who Will Be Oklahoma State's Next WNBA Draft Pick?

Oklahoma State women’s basketball is on a great trajectory, and it could soon land another Cowgirl in the WNBA.

Monday night marks the unofficial start of the WNBA season, with the 2025 WNBA Draft taking place. While the Dallas Wings will draft UConn star Paige Bueckers with the first pick, there is still plenty of uncertainty for the rest of the field.

However, one piece of certainty is that the Cowgirls won’t have anyone taken this year. Although OSU finished among the top 25 in the country and was one of the Big 12’s best throughout the season, it simply didn’t have any top-end talent that was eligible to be drafted this year. 

Since college players have to play four seasons before going to the WNBA, there is still plenty of time for someone on OSU’s roster to make that jump. Of course, the Cowgirls have a superstar who might be ready to make that jump now if she could.

Stailee Heard has been among the best players in the country since starting her career. The Cowgirl star earned an All-Big 12 selection this season and led her team to one of the best seasons in program history.

Heard will be eligible for the WNBA Draft in 2027 and looks like an obvious choice to be taken at some point. Over her next couple of years, she could easily raise her draft stock and even become a first-round pick.

Throughout the program’s history, OSU has had only four players to make it to the WNBA. Most recently, Natasha Mack was drafted in 2021 and has seemingly found a home in Phoenix. 

Meanwhile, OSU’s former WNBA players are Tiffany Bias, Toni Young and Andrea Riley. Young was the highest selection in OSU history, going seventh overall to the New York Liberty in 2013. Riley’s 73 games across three seasons mark the longest WNBA career of any Cowgirl.

Considering the talent that has come before Heard, it is obviously difficult to make and stick around in the WNBA. With so much potential and perhaps leading one of the top teams in the country over the next two years, Heard should soon be able to join that list.