University of North Carolina Athletics
Shegog Chosen By Sun In WNBA Draft
April 16, 2012 | Women's Basketball
April 16, 2012
RISTOL, Conn. --- North Carolina senior Chay Shegog was selected No. 21 overall by the Connecticut Sun Monday in the 2012 WNBA Draft at the headquarters of ESPN. Shegog became the 18th player in school history to be drafted.
Shegog led UNC to a 20-11 record in 2011-12 and a fifth place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference. She was a second-team All-ACC selection after averaging career bests of 15.6 points and 6.9 rebounds. The Stafford, Va., product concluded her career with 1,313 career points, good for 26th in school history.
"Chay Shegog is an athletic big post," Sun head coach Mike Thibault said Monday. "She runs the floor. She will be great competition for our posts. And you never know. She comes in and plays well, we'll have to re-think our roster. But very rarely do you get in the second round a chance to get a kid with that athleticism and that size so that was our biggest thought going into it."
"We would have preferred to take somebody who didn't come for two years, but Chay is a good player, so she will get her opportunity. It's on her to prove something. We already have a team. If she wants a job, she is going to have to beat somebody out and walk into camp and say, 'I'm going to kick somebody's butt to get a job.'"
"The WNBA is a great league and I just think it"s a great opportunity to play at this level," Shegog said. "Coach has reiterated that it is going to be tough to make WNBA rosters, especially because of everybody who is already in the league and the rookies coming in. I think playing hard and playing my own game is all I can show them."
"She"s very competitive, very physical and she's going to get better," North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "I think it's a really good pick and you're going to be pleasantly surprised at how good she is going to be and how tough she is going to be."
