April 9, 2008
Full ReleaseThe Minnesota Lynx today selected Stanford University guard Candice Wiggins, the 2008 State Farm Wade Trophy winner for National Player of the Year, with the team's third overall pick of the 2008 WNBA Draft.
"It is very exciting to be able to add an elite player like Candice Wiggins to our roster with our first pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft," said Lynx Chief Operating Officer Roger Griffith. "She has been one of the best players in the nation in each of her four collegiate seasons. She was certainly one of the best players in the draft, which she proved throughout the NCAA Tournament. Throughout her career she has shown an amazing intensity and incredible passion for basketball that Lynx fans and women's basketball fans throughout the state of Minnesota will really enjoy watching this summer and for many years to come.".
Named the Wade Trophy winner on April 5, 2008, Wiggins closed out her college career by leading Stanford to the 2008 NCAA Championship game, where she tallied 14 points for the Cardinal in a 64-48 loss to Tennessee Tuesday night in Tampa, Fla. Wiggins scored 151 points in Stanford's six NCAA Tournament games, which is the fourth-best total in tournament history. She is the only player to have scored 40 points or more in two games in the tournament..
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association awards the Wade Trophy Player of the Year, on behalf of the Wade Coalition, annually to the top player in NCAA Division I that embodies the spirit of Lily Margaret Wade, including effect on team, character and leadership..
"We're thrilled to be able to add a player like Candice Wiggins to our roster," said Lynx head coach Don Zierden. "She is coming off of one of the best NCAA Tournament performances in recent memory and she was the Wade Trophy Player of the Year. She is one of the greatest player's in Stanford's history and we feel that she will fit in well with Seimone Augustus, Lindsey Harding, Noelle Quinn, Nicole Ohlde and the rest of our players. We are excited to see what she can do on the court to help the Lynx become a playoff contender in 2008 and beyond.".
In addition to the Wade Trophy, Wiggins was also named to the State Farm Coaches' All-America Team, becoming just the seventh player in Division I history to earn the All-America honors each of her four seasons on the court..
Wiggins is the all-time Stanford leader with a career mark of 19.2 points per game, and on Jan. 31, 2008, against USC, she passed Kate Starbird's all-time leading total of 2,215 points to become Stanford's all-time leading scorer. Wiggins' 2,629 career points are also tops on the Pac-10 career scoring list, as she surpassed Lisa Leslie's previous mark of 2,414 points on March 2 at Washington State. Wiggins also owns the Stanford and Pac-10 records for career 3-pointers (295). At the charity stripe, Wiggins is the Stanford all-time leader with her 563 career free throws, having surpassed Val Whiting's previous tally of 481 on Jan. 31 against USC..
On the defensive end, with her four steals in Tuesday's championship game, Wiggins closed her collegiate career with 281 career steals, passing Sonja Henning's program-record of 280 in the final game of her Stanford career. Wiggins this season has also set new benchmarks in single-season points (787, breaking Starbird's 1997 mark of 753), and free throws made (184, breaking her own 2005 mark of 162)..
On Jan. 3, Wiggins joined a distinguished list of elite basketball players as she was named USA Basketball's 2007 Female Athlete of the Year. In 2007, Wiggins was part of four USA Basketball squads, and helped those four teams to a combined record of 23-0 and three gold medals in international competition. She also became the first Stanford player to earn this national honor..
Wiggins will be joining the U.S. National Team in Chicago for training from April 13-15 before heading to Beijing, China, to compete in the six-nation Olympic test event from April 19-26. She will then return to Minnesota to join the Lynx for training camp, which begins on April 20..