Minnesota Lynx select Diamond Miller with No. 2 overall pick in 2023 WNBA Draft

Diamond Miller walked onto the University of Maryland campus as a five-star recruit, ranked as a top-20 player coming out of high school according to ESPN’s Class of 2019 rankings. After boasting an excellent four-year career at Maryland, Miller has been selected No. 2 overall in the 2023 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx. 

The star 6-foot-3 guard had quite the illustrious career at College Park, averaging 19.7 points per game in her final season for the Maryland women’s basketball program. Miller finished with 1706 total points in her collegiate career. 

Miller ended her collegiate career with a multitude of accolades, including being named a second team All-American in her senior season, and an All-Big Ten first team selection in both 2021 and 2023. She also made two Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight in her time at the school. 

Miller displayed her loyalty to the Terps in a tumultuous 2022 offseason that saw fellow stars Angel Reese (LSU) and Ashley Owusu (Virginia Tech) depart for other schools through the transfer portal.

“If I were to transfer, I would have played with a new group of girls. If I stayed, I would have played with a new group of girls,” Miller said after Maryland’s 2023 Sweet 16 matchup. “When you look at it like that, I was like I’m just gonna stay and trust the process, and I’m so happy I did.” 

Her loyalty to coach Brenda Frese paid off, as Miller now stands poised to enter the WNBA as one of its top young prospects for a Minnesota Lynx team that will allow her breathing room to develop after an underwhelming 2022-23 season. 

The Lynx went 14-22 last season, finishing 5th in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs. After the retirement of eight-time All-Star Sylvia Fowles, who was tied for the team-lead in points with Aerial Powers last year (14.4), the Lynx are in need of extra firepower on both sides of the ball. 

After ranking sixth in scoring offense (82.4 ppg) and eighth in scoring defense (83.9 ppg), Miller might just be what the Lynx need to start their journey back to their glory days with her high potential on both ends of the floor. 

As a 6-foot-3 guard that has proven the ability to defend positions one through five in college, Miller will certainly become a versatile piece defensively if she can continue her development in the WNBA. 

Miller’s sky-high arching jump shot still could use some work on the other side of the ball, but the potential is there with her slashing and finishing abilities in the lane already looking quite polished. 

Miller’s No. 2 overall selection marks the highest a Terp has been taken in the WNBA draft since Marissa Coleman went at that same spot to the Washington Mystics in 2009.