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When mock drafts come out for the first time, many fans and media have the same proclivity every year where they cling on to the players named at the top and never revisit other prospects who can bypass them as the season progresses. If No. 13 Indiana's win over No. 11 Tennessee last night showed WNBA fans anything, it's that fifth-year senior Grace Berger could be getting the same treatment.
Berger, who has been selected to the All-Big Ten First Team three times, is one of the most consistent players in college basketball. She does a little bit of everything and has a chance to be a steal in the 2023 draft if teams let her fall. Here are three reasons she has to be considered a first round pick in next year's WNBA draft.
She's an elite midrange shooter
People might claim the death of the mid-range shot is looming but Berger possesses on of the prettiest shots in that area of the floor. She doesn't shoot many threes (she has never averaged more than 2.0 3PA per game in four seasons) but Berger processes the game at such a high level she burns teams as a pick-and-roll ball handler who can find her teammates or rise about defenders who give her the tiniest of daylight.
While finishing at the rim is going to be challenging for any player making the adjustment from college to the pros, Berger scored 1.297 points per possession on from that area of the floor. She uses her strength to muscle her way to the paint which could translate at the next level.
Still thinking about this play from Grace Berger last night. Uses three dribble moves to get by three defenders before the defense sets up on the other end. Clean early offense. pic.twitter.com/XQVojhavqz
— James Kay (@James_M_Kay) March 22, 2022
Berger is going to have to become more of a perimeter threat if she is going to blossom into a productive WNBA player. She does have the ball in her hands with this current iteration of the Hoosiers but she does have experience being an productive player with a lot of talent on the floor. Berger's niftiness around the basket and in the pick-and-roll should excite teams at the bottom of the first round.
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She's an overqualified secondary ball handler
As noted in the previous section, Berger initiates a lot of plays for the Hoosiers' offense. Given her skillset, she will most likely be utilized as a scorer off the bench to begin her professional career. That will force her off the ball. However, that could be a good thing for Berger, who currently averages 2.7 turnovers per game. If tasked to make simpler reads and keep the ball moving, Berger has proven she can do that (Teri Moren's system has been built around that).
Berger is currently averaging 5.7 assists per game and is someone who can run offense. What she could do for teams looking out for strong backcourt play in the second unit is something that isn't worth passing on this April. A team like the Minnesota Lynx, who own the last pick in the first round, would benefit from having a player like Berger who can keep the ship steady while the starters rest.
Team who drafts her knows what they are getting
The 2023 WNBA draft is considered to be top heavy. There are a lot of players who are going to need time to development and hone multiple parts of their games.
Not Berger.
The fifth-year guard is someone who has settled into what she is going to be as a professional player. She is the ultimate floor raiser at the end of the first round or top of the second one. Players in this range don't typically get enough time on the floor to develop into the players they can be. Berger will most likely have to expand her range from outside but she won't get lost on defense and her midrange shot is skill that is WNBA-ready.
Berger won't be a star in the league but if teams only draft for star talent, they are missing the mark of what goes into roster building. Players like Berger get overlooked too often and an organization would be wise to bet on her consistency she has come out with year after year.
