April 8, 2010
SAN DIEGO - Senior guard Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) became San Diego State's first-ever WNBA Draft pick Thursday, going in the first round (11th pick overall) to the Indiana Fever. Morris, who was one of 14 players invited to the Draft announcement in Secaucus, N.J., will also be the first Aztec to ever don a WNBA jersey.
Morris is just the 11th player in Mountain West Conference history to be tabbed in the WNBA Draft and the fourth selected in the first round. She is the league's highest pick overall since 2006, and third highest in MWC history, trailing only Utah's Shona Thorburn (7th overall) and TCU's Sandora Irvin (3rd).
A two-time honorable mention All-American and Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year, Morris is the first Aztec to ever lead the MWC in scoring (17.1 ppg.), is the conference's all-time leader in career steals (293) and ranks third in the SDSU record book in career points with 1,499, despite only playing three seasons in the Red and Black.
The 5-9 guard is just the second Aztec to ever earn All-America (honorable mention) honors on more than one occasion and is the first SDSU player to be named a two-time first-team all-league selection since Jodi Nowlin-Tres in 1996-97.
Morris joins an Indiana Fever squad that went 22-12 last season and advanced to the WNBA Finals under head coach Lin Dunn. The 2010 WNBA campaign gets underway Saturday, May 15, with the Fever set to take on Washington at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
San Diego State finished its 2009-10 campaign with a 23-11 record, won the program's first-ever Mountain West Conference Championship, advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and garnered a final No. 20 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.