Louisville's Schimmel will join McCoughtry with Dream

Arguably the two greatest players — Shoni Schimmel and Angel McCoughtry — in University of Louisville women's basketball history will be joining forces in the pros. And two other memorable Cardinals — Antonita Slaughter and Asia Taylor — are headed to the next level, too.

Schimmel, the Cardinals' No. 2 all-time scorer, was selected with the eighth overall pick in the WNBA draft on Monday night by the Atlanta Dream, who already have former U of L All-American and No. 1 all-time scorer McCoughtry guiding the way.

"I'm ready to start that dynamic duo with her," Schimmel said in a phone interview. "She's a great player, and I know how hard she works. … We're both great basketball players. Especially coming from Louisville, from the same college, that adds double attention to Atlanta."

Schimmel's early selection kicked off a big night for the U of L program, which also had Slaughter and Taylor selected with the final picks of the three-round draft — Nos. 35 and 36 overall. Slaughter, a Christian Academy of Louisville product, was picked by the Los Angeles Sparks, and Taylor, of Columbus, Ohio, went to the Minnesota Lynx, making Louisville the only school this year to have more than two players selected.

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University of Kentucky forward DeNesha Stallworth was taken with the first pick of the third round, 25th overall, by the Connecticut Sun, which hosted the draft. She's the fourth UK player ever drafted and the second in two years after A'dia Mathies was taken No. 10 by Los Angeles last season.

The Cardinals' trio are the fifth, sixth and seventh U of L players ever drafted and the first since McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham in 2009. McCoughtry, a No. 1 overall pick, is the only U of L player picked higher than Schimmel.

"It was awesome to be able to hear your name called, especially in the first round," Schimmel said. "It's been my dream since I was a little girl. This is a huge thing for me, and I'm excited and looking forward to it."

As for Slaughter, she felt confident she'd be picked at some point Monday night but was still anxious as she watched the draft at home with her family. Because her selection came up while the ESPNU broadcast was on a commercial break, she didn't even know she had been picked until congratulatory text messages started flying in.

"I thought it might be a late April fool's joke," she said, laughing. "I was texting back, 'Where am I going? Where am I going?' They finally said Los Angeles, and I was so excited. That's where I wanted to go from the jump."

Once word spread around the house that she had been drafted, Slaughter said it was "all tears and screams."

"Then Asia's name came up, and it just escalated (the joy)," she said. "(Taylor and Schimmel) have been working so hard, and they deserve it."

That Slaughter would be drafted would have seemed far-fetched five months ago after she collapsed on the bench during an early-season game, leading to fears that she might have a lung or heart condition that would end her career. But weeks later, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota gave her a clean bill of health, and she was back on the court as good as ever in helping U of L to a 33-5 season.

"I'm just looking back to December, and I've definitely overcome a lot of adversity, and I'm definitely proud that I have, just to get to where I am today," said Slaughter, whose brother A.J. plays professionally in Europe and whose sister Toni played at U of L.

Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike was the draft's No. 1 overall pick by the Sun. Her sister, Nneka, was drafted No. 1 by the Sparks in 2012, making the Ogwumikes and NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning the only pairs of siblings to be drafted No. 1 overall in the same major American professional sport. The Tulsa Shock selected Baylor point guard Odyssey Sims with the No. 2 pick.

Schimmel's selection came soon after. She was joined at the draft by her parents, sister Jude, who is a junior guard at U of L, Cards coach Jeff Walz and her former AAU coach.

"I'm just really excited for all three of the players," Walz said. "Shoni going in the first round and going No. 8, it's quite an accomplishment for her and reflects on what she did for her entire career here at Louisville, her growth as a person, her growth as a player. It really shows what she's all about. ...

"It's a great situation for her, and she'll be playing with Angel McCoughtry. How often is it that two of the best players who have come through our program are going to have the opportunity to play together professionally?

"For Antonita and Asia, what a career for those two. To be able to see their names up on the draft board at 35 and 36 was really special for all of us, especially those two. They've both dealt with injuries, and for them to respond to them the way they have and both have the opportunity to go to a training camp and compete for a spot on a team is really excited for all of us."

The WNBA season is only weeks away. Training camp starts late this month, and regular-season games begin in mid-May.

For the newest member of the Dream, it's a dream come true.

"It's crazy to sit back and be like, 'Wow, you are a professional basketball player now," Schimmel said. "As a 4-year-old that's what I wanted to do. Now As a 21-year-old, it's actually happened. Not many people get to say that they ended up doing as exactly what they wanted to do in life and were able to stay with it. Now I get to be a professional basketball player for many more years."

Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter on @SteveJones_CJ.