With only 12 teams and 12 roster spots per team, the WNBA is among the toughest cuts in professional sports, with plenty of talent left off teams once the season begins.
That was an unfortunate reality discovered by former Ohio State guard Taylor Mikesell, who was waived by the Indiana Fever on May 17 after being drafted by the team with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft.
Mikesell spent training camp with the Fever and appeared in one preseason game, scoring 5 points in limited action. She did not play in the Fever’s second preseason game, and was waived just days before the regular season began, and she awaits her next opportunity to play in the professional ranks.
“It was a great experience,” Mikesell said told The Canton Repository’s Peter Holland Jr. “Just being able to see the pace of the game and all the talented players that they had in training camp. It was really cool to see and be able to compete against them every day and just take what I fell short on, work on it, and when that next opportunity comes, I’ll be ready to go.”
Mikesell is among eight draftees that have already been waived from their respective teams. The Dallas Wings, in fact, already waived first-round pick Abby Meyers, a guard out of Maryland, and these roster moves have led to increased calls for the WNBA to expand, either the amount of teams or roster spots available to each team.
“It’s incredibly hard to make a WNBA roster,” Mikesell said. “It’s easily the hardest professional league to join and be successful, but it’s also what makes it elite. They are doing a great job already working toward expansions.”
