Shoni Schimmel will learn WNBA future Monday night

University of Louisville guard Shoni Schimmel will learn about the next step in her basketball career Monday night at 8 at the WNBA draft in the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Schimmel is expected to be a top-15 pick in the three-round (12 picks per round) draft. The host Connecticut Sun have the Nos. 1 and 11 picks in the first round, with Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike and Baylor’s Odyssey Sims the top contenders for first player selected.

Schimmel, Ogwumike and Sims are among 12 players who will attend the draft in person. The others are University of Connecticut’s Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley, Notre Dame’s Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa, Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas, Duke’s Chelsea Gray, Tennessee’s Meighan Simmons, Florida State’s Natasha Howard and North Carolina State’s Markeisha Gatling.

The second and third rounds will be televised on ESPNU, starting at 9.

Schimmel is expected to become the fifth U of L player ever drafted, following in the footsteps of Angel McCoughtry (No. 1 in 2009, Atlanta Dream), Candyce Bingham (No. 39 in 2009, San Antonio Silver Stars), Lori Nero (No. 19 in 2003, Houston Comets) and Jill Morton (No. 34 in 2000, Charlotte Sting).

University of Kentucky senior forwards DeNesha Stallworth and Samarie Walker are also draft prospects.

The Wildcats have had three previous WNBA draft picks: A’dia Mathies (No. 10 in 2013, Los Angeles Sparks), Victoria Dunlap (No. 11 in 2011, Washington Mystics), and Shantia Owens (No. 53 in 2000, Phoenix Mercury).

Various mock drafts have also listed U of L’s Antonita Slaughter as a possible late-round selection. Another U of L senior, forward Asia Taylor, plans to pursue a professional career, possibly overseas if she’s not drafted.

There’s little down time between the draft and the 2014 season. Exhibition games begin May 2 and the regular season May 16.

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

WNBA draft

When:

8 p.m. Monday

Where:

Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn.

TV:

ESPN2 (Round 1), ESPNU (Rounds 2-3)

First-round order (with 2013 record):

No. 1 Connecticut Sun (10-24); No. 2 Tulsa Shock (11-23); No. 3. San Antonio Stars (12-22); No. 4 New York Liberty (11-23); No. 5 Indiana Fever (16-18); No. 6 Washington Mystics (17-17); No. 7 Seattle Storm (17-17); No. 8 Atlanta Dream (17-17); No. 9 Indiana; No. 10 Chicago Sky (24-10); No. 11 Connecticut; No. 12 Minnesota Lynx (26-8).