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Kristine Anigwe: 6’4, F, California  

College Stats in 2018-19 (as of Feb. 25, 2019): 

27 games, 33.9 MPG, 22.9 PPG, 15.9 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.7 BPG, 51.9 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 67.4 FT% 

Where she’ll go:

Anigwe will be a late first or early second round selection.

The Rundown:

A year ago it seemed like Kristine Anigwe was almost a lock to be taken in the second round, but with her play this season, she’s forcing teams to think about drafting her earlier.

To put it simply, her numbers this year have been ridiculous. She’s averaging a massive double-double of over 20 points and 15 rebounds per game. She’s the leading rebounder in the NCAA, and the second-leading offensive rebounder. Anigwe has size, but at 6’4 she’s not always the tallest player on the court, so her rebounding prowess is more a result of her good positioning and effort.

Anigwe is the type of player who can absolutely come in and get her own shot on offense and she’s an incredible fundamental finisher down low. She has the potential to lead a WNBA bench unit in scoring right away and eventually she could be a very productive starter. Her play on offense oozes confidence. She’s also a good defender, she blocks shots and gets steals at a good rate for her position and she was recently named the NCAA’s defensive player of the year. Though it’s definitely harder to defend at the WNBA level, she has the skills to develop into a solid player on that side of the ball as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKvkfNfmOfQ

The knock on Anigwe is that Cal is not a very good team, so we’ve never seen her coexist with other stars and not be the featured player on her squad. Anigwe is also not a great shooter from range, and her free-throw percentage needs work. While she shoots very well from the field, that number has dropped over the course of her college career—though it’s important to keep in mind that as Anigwe has been forced to take on more and more of a central role on her team, she’s been dealing with double and triple teams from every team almost every night.

However, despite these concerns, the way Anigwe rebounds the ball, especially on the offensive end, makes you think that she won’t have any trouble finding a way to remain productive even with fewer plays being run for her than she gets in college. In fact, being more of a third or fourth option may just end up helping Anigwe’s efficiency. She’s big, athletic and skilled, and at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.

If she should be taken by the Lynx, Anigwe would probably start her career as a featured big off Minnesota’s bench. While the Lynx don’t have a starting big spot open in 2019, Anigwe is someone would could certainly develop into a long-term piece of the franchise.

Check out the rest of our prospect profiles, plus more Lynx-related draft coverage at lynxbasketball.com’s Draft Central.