Alabama star goes to Los Angeles Sparks in first round of WNBA Draft

The Los Angeles Sparks selected Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker with the ninth pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday night.

The ninth player from Alabama chosen in the history of the WNBA Draft, the 6-foot-0 guard is the third Crimson Tide player to go in the first round.

Alabama’s other WNBA Draft picks have been:

Brittany Davis, No. 36 by the Las Vegas Aces in 2023
Jasmine Walker, No. 7 by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2021
Monique Bivins, No. 37 by the Minnesota Lynx in 2005
LaNisha Cartwell, No. 33 by the Washington Mystics in 2002
Shondra Johnson, No. 42 by the Houston Comets in 2002
Tausha Mills, No. 2 by the Washington Mystics in 2000
Shalonda Enis, No. 13 by the Washington Mystics in 1999
Dominique Canty, No. 29 by the Detroit Shock in 1999

A first-team All-SEC selection in each of the past two seasons, Barker closed her career with the Crimson Tide by scoring a school-record 45 points in Alabama’s 111-108 double-overtime loss to Maryland in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament on March 24.

During the 2024-25 campaign, Barker averaged a team-high 18.2 points in 28 games. She also averaged 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 steals.

Barker played two seasons with Georgia before spending the past three with the Crimson Tide.

In 147 games with Alabama, she averaged 13.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 steals.

Barker won Alabama’s Miss Basketball Award for the 2019-20 season, her final campaign for Spain Park High School in Hoover. Barker paced the Jaguars to the AHSAA Class 7A girls’ basketball championship that season. Spain Park also had won the 2018 title as Barker averaged 23.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game during her prep career.