The virtual ceremony hosted by the National Women's Soccer League lasted about five hours after a series of timeouts and trades. The first round took nearly two hours, mostly due to the three trades that came to fruition and multiple timeouts that helped clubs make their best possible decisions.
Racing Louisville kicked off the night by picking Fox with the No. 1 overall pick. The 22-year-old defender from Ashburn, Virginia, is an elite prospect who is currently in Orlando taking part in the U.S. Women's National Team January training camp.
While the first pick is usually the one that makes the headlines, this year's second overall pick carried the same weight as the Washington Spirit used it to pick up Trinity Rodman, the daughter of former NBA legend Dennis Rodman. Rodman, who is widely recognized for her success with U.S. youth national teams, did not play a single NCAA game with Washington State University due to the pandemic-delayed college season. Nonetheless, the 18-year-old believes that she is ready to leap into the pros and so does the Spirit.
Three trades went down in the remainder of the first round. Sky Blue FC traded the 4th overall pick for $175,000 in allocation with Kansas City, who drafted Stanford's Kiki Picket with the pick. The Chicago Red Stars traded the 6th overall pick for an international spot, 7th overall pick & 32nd overall pick with Portland Thorns. The Thorns used the No. 6 pick to acquire midfielder Yazmeen Ryan from Texas Christian University. And for a second time in the first round, Sky Blue FC traded the 8th overall pick for $100,000 in allocation and Washington's natural 2nd round pick in the 2022 draft from the Washington Spirit. The Spirit used the pick to bring on defender Tara McKeown from USC.
Other first round notes:
Racing Louisville FC used its No. 5 overall pick to bring one of its own in University of Louisville forward Emina Ekic. The Louisville native was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year after scoring seven goals and dishing out three assists in nine games.
The North Carolina Courage was the only team to pick a foreign player in the first round, choosing Canadian forward Deanne Rose from the University of Florida as the tenth overall pick. Rose became the youngest-ever goalscorer in women's Olympic soccer history at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, scoring at the age of 17 against Brazil in the bronze medal match to help Canada finish third.
First Round
1. Racing Louisville – Emily Fox from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
2. Washington Spirit – Trinity Rodman from Washington State University
3. Sky Blue FC – Brianna Pinto from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
TRADE: Sky Blue FC trades 4th overall pick for $175,000 in allocation with Kansas City
4. Kansas City – Kiki Pickett from Stanford University
5. Racing Louisville – Emina Ekic from the University of Louisville
TRADE: Chicago Red Stars trades 6th overall pick for International spot, 7th overall pick & 32nd overall pick with Portland Thorns
6. Portland Thorns – Yazmeen Ryan from Texas Christian University
7. Chicago Red Stars – Madison Haley from Stanford University
TRADE: Sky Blue FC trades 8th overall pick for $100,000 in allocation and Washington's natural 2nd round pick in 2022 draft from the Washington Spirit
8. Washington Spirit – Tara McKeown from the University of Southern California
9. Orlando Pride – Viviana Villacorta from UCLA
10. North Carolina Courage – Deanne Rose from the University of Florida
Second Round
11. Racing Louisville – Taylor Otto from the University of North Carolina
12. Portland Thorns FC – Sam Coffey from Penn State University
13. Racing Louisville FC – Kirsten Davis from Texas Tech University
14. Orlando Pride – Mikayla Colohan from Brigham Young University
15. Kansas City – Victoria Pickett from the University of Wisconsin
16. Kansas City – Lucy Parker from UCLA
17. Kansas City – Addie McCain from Texas A&M University
18. Chicago Red Stars – Kelsey Turnbow from Santa Clara University
19. Washington Spirit – Anna Heilferty from Boston University
20. North Carolina Courage – Alyssa Malonson from Auburn University
Third Round
21. Racing Louisville FC – Parker Goins from the University of Arkansas
22. Portland Thorns – Amirah Ali from Rutgers University
23. Sky Blue FC – Taryn Torres from the University of Virginia
24. Orlando Pride – Kerry Abello from Penn State University
25. Chicago Red Stars – Brianna Alger from Washington State University
26. Houston Dash – Joelle Anderson from Pepperdine University
27. Houston Dash – Makamae Gomera-Stevens from Washington State University
28. OL Reign – Jimena Lopez from Texas A&M University
29. Washington Spirit – Sydney Schneider from University of North Carolina Wilmington
30. North Carolina Courage – Myra Konte from Vanderbilt University
Fourth Round
31. Racing Louisville – Emily Smith from the University of California, Berkeley
32. Chicago Red Stars – Channing Foster from the University of Mississippi
33. Sky Blue FC – Delanie Sheehan from UCLA
34. Orlando Pride – Kaylie Collins from the University of Southern California
35. Chicago Red Stars – Alissa Gorzak from the University of Virginia
36. Kansas City – Alex Loera from Santa Clara University
37. Portland Thorns – Hanna Betfort from Wake Forest University
38. Kansas City – Brookelynn Entz from Kansas State University
39. Washington Spirit – Mariana Speckmaier from Clemson University
40. Sky Blue FC – Tess Boade from Duke University
