TicketsLiberty Make Sharp Draft Choice
Bearcat Senior KB Sharp Taken In Second Round Of WNBA Draft
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
4/25/2003
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- University of Cincinnati senior basketball player K.B. Sharp (Columbus, OH/Bexley) has been taken in the second round (26th pick) of the WNBA Draft.
Sharp is the second Bearcat to be drafted by the seven-year old league. She joins Madinah Slaise, who was a second round choice (28th pick) by the Detroit Shock in 2000.
Sharp concluded her record-setting Bearcat career this past March after she led UC to a school-record second straight NCAA appearance and sixth consecutive post-season berth.
A first team All-Conference USA choice this past year, Sharp was third on the team with a 13.6 scoring average while leading the squad with 5.9 assists per game. She ended her career holding the UC records for assists in a game (13 vs. Robert Morris in 2001-02) and career (623) while also posting the top three single season assist totals in UC annals, including a record 205 in 2001-02.
Sharp?s contributions to the Bearcats weren?t always evident in the boxscore. A deadly efficient scorer, she often passed up scoring opportunities to set up scoring opportunities for her teammates and bring all five players on the court into the flow of the game. Her ball-handling ability allowed her to almost single-handedly break down the full court press. She led Conference USA in assist-to-turnover ratio, handing out 184 assists while committing just 58 turnovers.
Sharp will be remembered for having incredible physical endurance and conditioning, allowing her to play 40 minutes or more in a game 19 times during her senior year and 58 times during her career.
In a double-overtime win at Louisville this year, she set a school standard by playing all 50 minutes. Not only is she the only player in school history to play more than 1,000 minutes in three seasons, but her school record 4,339 minutes played includes the top three single season totals in the UC record books.
One of fewer than 15 women in Division I history to tally over 1,000 points, 600 assists and 450 rebounds in a career, Sharp currently ranks 12th in school history with 1,164 career points while also owning the school mark with 126 games played.
Sharp will not have much time to get ready for the start of her pro career. New York opens preseason camp next week in preparation for a preseason opener against Connecticut on May 6th. The Liberty then open the regular season at Cleveland on May 31.