‘Priority 2s’: The IX Basketball’s top late-round draft prospects

As I write every October and April, The IX Basketball’s draft board “is as long as there are players that we’d be willing to give solid minutes to, if we were WNBA general managers.” Over the last three years, that has been an average of 17 players per draft class, but the 2026 draft is going to be 45 picks long. And there’s no reason to waste picks if you’ve got them.

Enter the “Priority 2s.” Where the draft board ends after the 30 FV tier, roughly equivalent to a reserve, every so often there are players beyond that tier who pop as legitimately rosterable talents. These players have graded out as 20 FVs coming into their respective drafts, but have development paths they’re able to follow to stick in the WNBA. The prospects in the 20 FV tier who we would prioritize as possibly joining that rare group of players are “Priority 2s,” because grades that are multiples of 10 can be shortened to just their first number and “Priority 2” has a better ring to it than “Priority 20 FV.”

What separates a prospect as Priority 2 is the possibility of a change in roles and approach to skill development at the pro level that can push them beyond what a prospect of their caliber might normally achieve. This is a longer and trickier path than that of any 30+ FV prospect, but is more realistic than any path for the rest of the 20 FVs in a given class. For example, any of the suggested developments for players below are more feasible than Yarden Garzon becoming a scoring threat inside the arc or a stronger defensive presence at the rim, or of Taina Mair’s jump shot becoming more consistent.

Players are in alphabetical order, ages reflect what age the player will be classified as during the 2026 season.

Kara Dunn, combo forward, USC

If you’re a team looking for a 3-and-D wing outside of the top 10, Kara Dunn might be the best option in the class. She continues to improve as a shooter every season, is a great cutter, rarely turns over the ball and takes quality shots. Despite being 5’11, Dunn has split time playing the three and four in her college career, due to her impressive physicality and rebounding. She’s not quite elite at anything on defense, but she isn’t bad at anything either; Dunn can defend wings downhill, doesn’t foul often and knows where to be in help. There are limitations, though, because she can’t really dribble or create and isn’t a major athlete, leading to stretches where you forget she’s on the court (see: USC’s game versus UConn). Dunn also has a tendency to go on hot-and-cold stretches from three — she struggled in non-conference play, was on fire to open Big Ten play and has since cooled off. It would not be surprising if her connective skills are enough for a team to roster her as a rookie, but her WNBA future beyond that will likely come down to the caliber of shooter she is. 

Teonni Key, power forward, Kentucky

The outlines of a WNBA player are there with Teonni Key. She’s tall, athletic, moves well in space and covers ground to contest shots around the rim, posting a 5.5% block rate. Offensively, Key is a solid finisher and runs hard in transition, but struggles to score outside of five feet; this season, she’s shot just 29% on 2-point jumpers and 8.3% on 3-pointers, per Synergy. Her biggest area of growth will be decision-making: she often predetermines things on offense and isn’t disciplined enough on defense, leading to foul trouble. In the past, a player this raw likely wouldn’t have made a roster. Now, with the possibility of new developmental spots, Key is a perfect candidate. If a team can simplify her offensive role and clean up her foul issues, she could carve out a spot as an energy big.

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Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, power forward, Baylor

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs has been a borderline prospect for us for her entire collegiate career, including an honorable mention spot on the 2024 post-draft board of the best prospects in college basketball, and the equivalent grade on our 2026 preseason board. The most glaring concerns in her profile were the minimal scoring away from the rim and poor pick-n-roll (PnR) game, which was reflected in a significant drop in her 2024-25 scoring output against top opponents compared to everyone else on Baylor’s schedule. That issue has only gotten worse this year: Against top frontcourt competition,¹ Littlepage-Buggs has scored a combined 55 points on 56 shots, with 10 assists against 17 turnovers. She simply doesn’t have enough in her scoring package to consistently threaten good defenders, and her handle and passing can get sped up too much under pressure. Her defense and rebounding remain exceptional, at least, and the finishing is good, while the pull-up middy still flashes some upside. Getting her out of Waco and next to more offensively competent teammates might alleviate some of the scoring pressure, allowing her to be a high-leverage defensive player and a low-leverage offensive player with solid efficiency, with the possibility of a WNBA player development group working on the jump shot. That does place a load-bearing amount of weight on her help defense and finishing, though.

Cotie McMahon, wing, Mississippi

An explosive freshman spring appears to have been the high-water mark for Cotie McMahon, who has slid down our rankings from a 60 FV after 2023 to a 45 FV after 2024 to a 30 FV after 2025 onto this list. In most aspects she is the same player as she was three years ago, an impactful wing with enough strength and quickness to match up with any opposing wing, a deadly transition scoring game, and a physicality on the ball that lets her get downhill against almost any matchup. But the offensive package hasn’t expanded to include a consistent 3-point shot, and she still lacks moves off the dribble beyond her exceptional spin. And her screen navigation and help defense haven’t made enough strides for her defense to carry the profile.

There are outlines of a valuable role player here, though. McMahon has shot 34.6% on 153 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers over the past two seasons, per Synergy, and her midrange pull-up game has become a solid threat. In a role that positions McMahon as a slasher first and shooter second, those two parts of her game are good enough to complement the finishing and foul-drawing — if she can be taught another move off the bounce. Her defense also needs to take a step forward to keep her on a W court, but there are enough building blocks here to make McMahon a much more enticing option than other second round prospects.

Kyla Oldacre, center, Texas

In a vacuum, Kyla Oldacre isn’t in the same tier of player as the rest of the names on this list. But, cold and dark as the world may sometimes feel, we do not live in a vacuum, and there are teams outside the lottery who will want young centers. And Oldacre is solidly the next-best center in the class behind Awa Fam and Lauren Betts. Oldacre is consistent, both for better and for worse: Every minute she’s on the court, she brings size, play-finishing with some versatility around the rim, great hands defending at the rim and in the PnR, no playmaking, sloppy fouling and no range on either end. Where Madina Okot has a severely limiting and likely intractable issue with feel,² and Christeen Iwuala isn’t a particularly impactful defender, Oldacre is a consistent event-creator for both teams (but thankfully usually her own).

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Justine Pissott, combo forward, Vanderbilt

A year ago, Justine Pissott played under 10 minutes per game, and barely saw the court against top opponents for Vanderbilt. Rather than transferring, she stayed put, and is now one of college basketball’s breakout stars. At 6’4, Pissott is knocking down over 50% of her catch-and-shoot threes, running off screens and pulling up from deep with zero hesitation in transition. There’s simply not many players at her size anywhere in the world doing that. Her shooting alone puts Pissott on draft radars, but what else does she do at a WNBA level? Only 13% of her field-goal attempts come at the rim, and she competes on defense, but her athleticism — particularly the foot speed — could be a limitation. The track record of fourth-year breakout prospects like Pissott making an impact at the next level isn’t great, but if she’s truly this good of a shooter, yeah, that’s a real player. Katie Lou Samuelson has built a career off less.

Lani White, off-ball guard, Utah

Lani White wasn’t on any draft boards entering the year after averaging just 5.4 points across her first three seasons, including a one-season stop at Virginia Tech. Now back at Utah, she’s nearly tripled that scoring average, while maintaining her efficiency. White’s combination of shooting, size and solid athleticism is what makes her most intriguing as a prospect. This season, she’s hitting 39.8% of her catch-and-shoot threes, including a ridiculous 68.4% off screens (13-for-19), per Synergy. White uses that shooting gravity to flow into midrange pull-ups or get to the rim with regularity. On the other end, she clearly projects as a negative defender, both on and off the ball, but can she be passable enough to stick on the court? If she is, every team could use a movement shooter like White, and there’s real pathways for her to stick as a backup scoring guard.

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1. Duke, Iowa, Texas, Iowa State, West Virginia (which is more exceptional team defense than individual defense), and TCU. You could include Kansas, though the Jayhawks start Lilly Meister, so I don’t, but Littlepage-Buggs had 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting against them with six assists against one turnover.
2. This is slightly less important if her 5-for-5 performance from three over the past two games is indicative of real shooting going forward