On Monday night, Virginia Tech's Kayana Traylor and Taylor Soule were selected in the 2023 WNBA Draft. The two Hokies, who helped the program to its first-ever Final Four berth in 2022-23, became the first duo from the school to be taken in the same draft.
The Chicago Sky chose Traylor with the 23rd pick (Round 2, Pick 11) while Soule went to the Minnesota Lynx with the 28th pick (Round 3, Pick 4). They were the seventh and eighth players ever drafted from Tech. They were two-of-three ACC products taken in this year's event, too, joining Miami's Destiny Harden (27th pick, Phoenix Mercury).
After Aisha Sheppard went to the Las Vegas Aces with the 23rd pick in 2022, Traylor followed suit in the same spot this year. They're now tied for the highest selection in program history.
A 5-foot-9 guard from Martinsville, Ind., Traylor transferred from Purdue in 2021. She started 70 of the 88 games she played in as a Boilermaker, recording 2,434 minutes, 771 points and 311 assists. A Second Team All-Big Ten honoree, she ventured to Blacksburg in hopes of joining a championship-caliber team.
Two years later, she heads to the WNBA as an ACC champion. With the Hokies, she played in 68 games, starting 40, including 29 in 2022-23. Over the course of two seasons, she was on the floor for 1,979 minutes and scored 728 points.
Traylor averaged 10.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game at Tech while shooting 43.7% from the floor and 33.0% from behind the arc. She was also impressive from the free throw line, hitting 188 of her 233 attempts (80.7%).
"Coming here, I got exactly what I wanted out of it," Traylor said after Tech's season ended in the Final Four. "An ACC championship, a Final Four, and then most importantly, just being around people who welcomed me and loved me from the day that I got here. These past few years have been the best of my life."
A West Lebanon, N.H. native, Soule was the Hokies' missing piece this season. The 5-foot-11 forward transferred from Boston College in 2022 after spearheading the Eagles for four seasons. She arrived at Tech as a two-time All-ACC honoree with more than 1,500 points and 3,000 minutes in her career.
Though she only spent one year with Virginia Tech, she started all 36 games, averaging 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds. Soule shot 51.7% from the floor, 72.6% from the free throw line and was a Second Team All-ACC performer. In addition, she played 1,028 minutes and recorded three double-doubles.
“This is definitely what I dreamed of,” Soule said after Tech was announced as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. “Did I ever think it was going to be in Blacksburg, Virginia? Absolutely not, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”
For full coverage of the 2023 WNBA Draft, click here.