Newton, Richman Selected in WNBA Draft
Apr 16 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers senior Chelsea Newton (Monroe, LA) was the second-round selection (22nd pick overall) of the Sacramento Monarchs and classmate Rebecca Richman (Brooklyn, NY) was the third-round pick (36th overall) by the New York Liberty in the 2005 WNBA Draft.
Newton, a 5-11 guard, was named the 2005 BIG EAST Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Third Team. She averaged 9.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals for Rutgers as a senior, starting 32 of 33 games and posting 15 double-digit scoring efforts. A selection to the University of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team (Nov. 27-29, 2004), she was named Rutgers' 2003-2004 Most Valuable Player after averaging 11.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, posting 11 double-digit scoring efforts (two 20+ points). During her four years 'On the Banks,' Newton started 95 of 104 games, averaging 9.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 steals per contest, posting 51 double-digit scoring games (four 20+ points), two double-digit rebounding games and two double-doubles. Newton attended Carroll High School in Monroe, LA, where she was named an All-American by Phoenix/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), Parade (third team) and the All Star Girls Report (fourth team). Newton played in the 2001 Phoenix/WBCA All-America Game after averaging 26.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.2 steals per game as a senior.
'I'm very excited to get this opportunity and I am definitely very happy about getting selected by Sacramento,' said Newton. 'The Monarchs are a wonderful team, and I'm just looking forward to getting out there, working hard and doing whatever I can to help the team.'
Richman, a 6-4 center, averaged 2.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game as a senior, starting seven of 34 games. Richman, who ranks seventh all time at Rutgers with 106 blocked shots, averaged 2.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game during her career, starting 24 of 116 games. She will have an opportunity to play professionally for her hometown New York Liberty - Richman grew up in Brooklyn, and attended Brooklyn Tech High School, where she was a sixth-team Street & Smith's All-American and an honorable-mention All-America pick by USA Today after scoring more than 1,650 career points.
'It's really exciting,' said Richman. 'It's a great opportunity, especially to get picked by New York. I'm just going to do my best to go into training camp, make a difference and take advantage of this chance to continue playing basketball.'
Newton and Richman are the seventh and eighth Scarlet Knights, respectively, to be selected in the WNBA Draft - Sue Wicks (1997, first round, New York Liberty), Usha Gilmore (2000, third round, Indiana Fever), Shawnetta Stewart (2000, third round, Orlando Miracle), Tammy Sutton-Brown (2001, second round, Charlotte Sting), Tasha Pointer (2001, fourth round, Portland Fire) and Davalyn Cunningham (2002, second round, Orlando Miracle). Sutton-Brown is the only Scarlet Knight currently playing in the WNBA, as she prepares to start her fifth season with the Sting. Newton and Richman mark the third pair of Scarlet Knights to be selected in the same draft (Gilmore and Stewart in 2000; Sutton-Brown and Pointer in 2001).
Along with Newton and Richman, former Scarlet Knight Mauri Horton (Minneapolis, MN) will be attempting to make a WNBA roster, as she has been signed as a free-agent and will be invited to training camp with the Indiana Fever. Horton (1999-2003) averaged 7.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game as a Scarlet Knight, starting 66 of 107 career games. The 5-8 guard finished her career fourth in both three-point field goals made (112) and three-pointers attempted (339) and fifth in three-point field-goal percentage (.330). A third-team all-BIG EAST selection as a senior, she posted averages of 11.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals during her final season.
No. 9/7 Rutgers (28-7, 14-2 BIG EAST), the BIG EAST regular-season champion and BIG EAST Tournament runner-up, advanced to the regional final of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
