Megan Gustafson is the best player in Iowa basketball history, and according to analysts, she may just turn this great season into a WNBA draft selection.
Any Iowa basketball fan that saw Megan Gustafson play this season knows what kind of player she is. Although slightly undersized at the center position (especially when you compare her to Baylor’s Kalani Brown), Gustafson makes up for with her quick shot and ability to shoot from all angles in addition to a high motor and fantastic work ethic.
Apparently, the WNBA thinks pretty similarly of the 2019 Naismith Player of the Year. According to both Bleacher Report and ESPN, Megan Gustafson is projected to be picked at the end of the first round with the 12th overall pick by the reigning WNBA Champions, the Seattle Storm. If this all fell into place, Gustafson would be joining former UConn great Sue Bird and two other 2018 WNBA All-stars (Jewell Lloyd and Breanna Stewart).
Here’s the brief clip of Bleacher Report’s scouting report:
"At 6’3″, she’s a bit undersized for a post player and will likely struggle to guard the league’s bevy of skilled centers."
Interestingly enough, in this same article, Bleacher Report projects Baylor’s Kalani Brown as the 4th overall draft pick.
While Baylor dominated the Iowa basketball team from start to finish, Megan Gustafson was the lone bright spot on the team and she held her own against Brown despite giving up four inches to her. Brown shot 6 of 11 and gathered just 7 rebounds in the contest. Gustafson meanwhile, went 9 of 17 for 23 points and 9 rebounds. To say Gustafson can’t guard the league’s bevy of skilled centers is to discredit the work ethic this Port Wing native has to continually improve and be the best she can be.
Megan Gustafson may not be the most athletic center in the league, but she will certainly be the hardest working and most technically sound of the bunch and as we saw in the Iowa versus Baylor game, she can handle the tough tests she is bound to face in the WNBA as she clearly won the battle against Brown.
One thing is certain, whoever is smart enough to take a chance on the All-American and National Player of the Year will not regret it.