After attracting the attention of several teams, Ko Hyun-ji headed to KB Stars with the No. 1 overall pick, while Katie Timmerman, who participated as a foreign national, was selected by Shinhan Bank with the No. 2 pick in the second round.
The WKBL held the 2023-2024 WKBL Player Draft on Thursday at Cheongju Gymnasium. A total of 28 players participated, with only 12 heading to the pros. No college graduates were selected.
The first overall pick went to the Cheongju KB Stars.메이저사이트 KB, along with Bucheon Hana OneQ, who missed the playoffs last season, had a 50/50 chance of getting the top pick, but overcame the 50/50 odds to claim the top pick for the first time in four years. The honor of the No. 1 pick went to Ko Hyun-ji of Sufiya High School.
The daughter of 1990 Beijing Asian Games women’s basketball gold medalist Cho Moon-joo, she wore the Kookmin Bank jersey that her mother wore when she was unemployed. She took first place in four categories at the four-day combine, including max vertical jump reach (303.4 cm) and max vertical jump (73.4 cm).
“I’ve been watching him since elementary school,” said KB head coach Kim Wan-soo, while Ko said, “I’m really honored to come to KB Stars as the No. 1 pick. I thought I was unlucky this year personally, but I think I worked hard to come to KB Stars. I will quickly adapt to the team and become a player who can help the team and shine like my mom.” He expressed his gratitude with tears in his eyes.
The rest of the first round picks were Busan BNK Thumb, Incheon Shinhan Bank, Yongin Samsung Life Insurance, BNK, and Asan Woori Bank.
BNK had two first-round picks because they made a trade with Hana OneQ after the picks were drawn. They sent Kim Sion to Hana OneQ and received the second pick in the first round. We used the valuable second-round pick from the trade to select Hyosung Girls’ High School’s Kim Jong-eun. It was a pick focused on strengthening the forward lineup. At No. 5, we selected forward Park Da-won (Bundang Business School).
The third pick was Heo Yoo-jung from Bundang Business School. Together with Park Da-won and Byun Ha-jung, who also applied, Heo swept the 2023 Spring League, the Association Championship, and the Weekend League Wangjoongwang. Shinhan Bank bolstered its guard lineup by selecting Heo Yoo-jung, who has a stable game as a guard and can shoot from 2-on-2. Samsung Life called up Lee Yena (Cheongju Girls’ High School) with the fourth pick, while Woori Bank selected Byun Ha-jung (Bundang Business School), Byun’s younger sister, with the sixth pick.
After a brief meeting, the second round of picks began and the second trade took place. BNK traded its second-round pick to Shinhan Bank for guard Shim Soo-hyun. As a result, BNK did not exercise its pick in the second round.
Woori Bank selected Hwabongo forward Kim Sol with the first pick in the second round. Shinhan Bank, which received the second-round pick from BNK, selected Katie Timmerman (Concordia University), who participated as a foreign national. “I am honored to be able to play professionally in the place where my mother was born, and I hope to make her proud by working hard,” said Timmerman.
Samsung Life Insurance selected Sungkyunkwan High School guard Kim Soo-in with the third pick of the second round and Shinhan Bank selected Sunil High School center Seo Jin-young with the fourth pick. Shin Tae-hee (Sangju Women’s High School) and Sung Soo-yeon (Chuncheon Women’s High School) followed.
In the third round, all six teams withdrew their picks. None of the seven college graduates were called up.
2023~2024 WKBL Draft Results (Height is based on WKBL application)
1st Round
1 KB Stars: Ko Hyun-ji (Supia Girls High School, F, 182 cm)
BNK (Hana WonQ, Kim Sion trade): 2nd place: Kim Jong-yeon (Hyosung Girls’ High School, F, 175 cm)
3rd place Shinhan Bank: Heo Yoo-jung (Bundang Business School, G, 174 cm)
4th Samsung Life: Lee Yena (Cheongju Girls’ High School, F, 179 cm)
5th place BNK: Park Da-won (Bundang Business School, F, 179 cm)
6th place Woori Bank: Byun Ha-Jung (Bundang Business School, C, 180 cm)
Round 2
1st place Woori Bank: Kim Sol (Hwabongo, F, 174 cm)
2nd place Shinhan Bank (BNK, Shim Soo Hyun Tate): Katie Timmerman (Concordia University, G, 179 cm)
Samsung Life: Kim Soo-in (Sungkyunkwan High School, G, 176 cm)
Shinhan Bank: Seo Jin-young (Sunil Girls’ High School, C, 185 cm)
5th place: Hana OneQ: Shin Tae-hee (Sangju Girls’ High School, F, 178 cm)
6th place KB Stars: Sung Su-yeon (Chuncheon Girls High School, G, 165 cm)
