The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

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Former Athens Drive player selected as tenth pick in WNBA Draft

Athens Drive alumna, Markeisha Gatling, was selected as the tenth overall pick in the 2014 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft Monday, April 14, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. Gatling was selected by the Chicago Sky and became the fourteenth student athlete from North Carolina State University (NCSU) to be selected in the WNBA Draft and the first NCSU player drafted since 2008.

Gatling graduated from Athens Drive High School in 2010 after playing on the varsity women’s basketball team at Athens for four years. During her high school career, the 6’-5” center scored a total of 1,273 points, which is the second most in Athens Drive history.

She committed to Gulf Coast Community College after high school and played basketball there for her freshman and sophomore years. She then transferred to NCSU for her junior and senior years and continued to have a successful college basketball career. After her junior year, Gatling was ranked second best in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in field goal shooting for the 2012-2013 season, shooting 57.7 percent throughout the year.

During the 2014 season, Gatling was named to the All-ACC First Team, earned Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention recognition and ended her college career with the Wolfpack as the most accurate shooter in the 40-year history of the women’s basketball program at NCSU, shooting 62.8 percent. In her senior year, she helped lead her team to a 25-8 record and reached the semi-finals of the 2014 ACC Tournament, losing 83-48 to the University of Notre Dame Saturday, March 8.

“When you watch Markeisha play you can see her ability to post and seal, and really be a physical presence in the paint,” said Pokey Chatman, head coach and general manager of the Chicago Sky to Comcast Sportsnet. “She can help us set some screens and get some rebounds which is definitely something we need to add to the arsenal.”

The WNBA Preseason began May 12 and the Chicago Sky played in three games, including the final of 12 preseason games against the Washington Mystics Tuesday, May 13 at the University of Delaware. The Sky defeated the Mystics 76-69 and ended the preseason tournament with a 2-1 record. Opening night for the WNBA regular season is May 16 when the Chicago Sky will take on the Indiana Fever at home.

“This has been a dream of mine since I began playing basketball when I was 9 years old,” said Gatling to The Cary News. “Just to be here and go through all this…is just amazing!”

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