UAPB Women’s Basketball coach Dawn Thornton is convinced that Zaay Green is a WNBA-level talent.
Thornton posted a video on social media to praise Green for her hard work and competitiveness. She believes should be selected in next year’s 2024 WNBA draft class despite not playing at a Power Five school.
“Zaay is a professional athlete. This young lady, if she was on a roster at Tennessee or Texas A&M, she’s a first-round draft pick, no doubt in my mind,” Thornton said. “I just hope and pray that she can get the recognition that she deserves to have. I hope that this conference will allow her to blossom and bloom into getting the looks that she needs to get. She is different,”
Thornton mentions Tennessee and Texas A&M which are Green’s previous schools and also Power Five schools in the SEC. Green, a 2018 five-star McDonald’s All-American, played two seasons at Tennessee, before transferring to Texas A&M for one season.
Green transferred from Texas A&M to UAPB just in time for the 2021-2022 season. In her first year at UAPB, Green averaged 15.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Her play earned her the honors of SWAC New Comer of the Year and SWAC First-Team All Conference.
Although Green missed all of last season due to injury, she is back and hopefully, she will pick up where she left off two years ago.
Green can get the looks that she needs to get as the last HBCU player to be drafted into the WNBA was from the SWAC in Ameshya Williams-Holliday from Jackson State in 2022.
Green will be able to show her abilities and prove whether she belongs in the WNBA when UAPB kicks its 2023-2024 season off in November.