Two Ohio State players heard their names called during the 2024 WNBA draft on Monday.

With the fifth pick, the Dallas Wings selected Buckeyes guard Jacy Sheldon. Ten picks later, the Indiana Fever took Celeste Taylor in the second round.

Sheldon is the highest pick from Ohio State since Kelsey Mitchell, the No. 2 pick in 2018. A graduate of Dublin Coffman, Sheldon is also the first player from her high school to be drafted into the WNBA.

"It's a dream," Sheldon said. "It's what we're all here for and it's what we're all looking forward to. So, I'm excited. I've seen the growth and to be a part of that is something that is really rare."

During Sheldon's five seasons with the Buckeyes, the 5-foot-10 guard scored 2,024 points and is sixth on Ohio State's all-time leading scoring list. Sheldon also ranks top 10 in program history for field goals, 3-pointers and steals.

Averaging a team-high 17.8 points and recording 20 points or more in 13 games this season, Sheldon helped lead the Buckeyes to their first outright Big Ten regular-season title in over a decade.

Wings president and CEO Greg Bibb said that the organization has kept a close eye on Sheldon since the first game of the 2023-24 season, with her originally landing on the team's radar during her senior year, though she decided to return to Ohio State for a fifth and final year.

"She gets at it defensively," Bibb said. "Some of the best hands I've seen defensively in terms of being active. Playing at Ohio State, she's great in the full-court press that they utilize there. ... You know, physicality, like most college players it's an adjustment, it's going to be an adjustment for her too."

Taylor, who transferred from Duke to Ohio State during the offseason last year, also played a key role for the Buckeyes. Leading the team in both steals and blocks, Taylor was named co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, making her a two-time conference DPOY winner.

On multiple occasions throughout her one season with Ohio State, Taylor spoke about how it was a difficult decision to forgo the draft and use her final year of eligibility to play with the Buckeyes.

"I would never trade the decision that I made to go to Ohio State," Taylor said. "I think that it has brought me so much peace in who I have become as a player and the impact that I can make in any program that I choose or organization that I have the opportunity to be a part of."

This marks the second straight year that Ohio State has had a player selected in the draft. Last year, Taylor Mikesell was picked by Fever in the second round with the No. 13 pick overall.

Celeste Taylor and Caitlin Clark join Kelsey Mitchell in Indiana

Before the Fever took Taylor with its second pick in the draft, they had the No. 1 selection and used it on the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, Caitlin Clark of Iowa.

Clark and Taylor have a history of sharing the court that goes beyond their time as Big Ten rivals who matched up twice in the 2023-24 season. The two were teammates with Team USA in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup.

"Just having the opportunity to play with her again," Taylor said, "it's going to be amazing. And she's done so much for the women's game, and I know she has so much more to give to everyone."

Mitchell, whom Clark bumped to third on the all-time NCAA women's scoring list, has become a main component on Indiana's roster.

Though Taylor only had the chance to meet the former Buckeye on her official visit to Ohio State back in high school, she is looking forward to playing with Mitchell but knows the first step to doing so is making the Fever's roster.

Arlington, TX (April 15, 2024) – The Dallas Wings made a trio of selections on Monday night during the 2024 WNBA Draft, which aired live on ESPN from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Wings selected Jacy Sheldon out of Ohio State with the fifth overall selection, Carla Leite from France with the ninth overall pick, and Ashley Owusu of Penn State with the 33rd overall selection.

Sheldon is a 5-10 guard from Dublin, Ohio. The All-American spent five seasons at The Ohio State University, averaging 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in 2023-24. This past season, Sheldon ranked in the top-10 in the Big Ten in five categories – third in scoring (17.8), fourth in steals/game (1.9), fourth in free throw percentage (.858), sixth in field goal percentage (.505) and 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.6). She ranks sixth in Ohio State history with 2,024 career points and is in the top-14 in nine additional categories. Sheldon is one of three players in program history with 1,900 points, 400 rebounds, 350 assists, 200 steals and 150 made three-pointers.

Sheldon was named to the AP All-American Second Team, USBWA All-America Third Team and The Sports News Women’s All-America Second Team. She earned All-Big Ten First Team honors from both the coaches (unanimous) and media in 2023-24, also being tabbed as Ohio State’s sportsmanship award winner and a media choice for All-Big Ten Defensive Team. Sheldon was one of five finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award after being named to the preseason watch list and midseason top-10. In 2023-24, she was named to the preseason and midseason watch lists and was one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy. Sheldon also was featured on the preseason, midseason and late season watchlists for the Wooden Award and the watchlist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale USBWA National Player of the Year award.

Leite is a 5-11 guard who plays for Tarbes Gespe Bigorre in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB) in France. Over 19 games this season, Leite has averaged 15.6 points, 5.5 assists and .464 shooting from the field. She has scored in double figures in 17 of 19 games this year, while reaching the 20-point mark on four occasions. Leite played for Tarbes GB in 2022-23 as well, averaging 11.8 points, 2.9 assists and .492 shooting.

Leite was a member of France’s U20 National Team in 2023, leading the squad to a Gold Medal in the European Championship after averaging 18.4 points, 4.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds and .462 shooting. She was named the All-FIBA U20 European Championship MVP, was also being tabbed as the Best Guard and named to the First Team.

Owusu is a 6-foot guard from Woodbridge, Va. She spent her graduate season at Penn State in 2023-24, earning All-Big Ten Second Team accolades. Owusu averaged 18 points throughout the regular season and scored in double figures in 13 of her 14 appearances. Including Penn State’s postseason run, Owusu led the Lady Lions in scoring (18.1) and assists (3.8), while shooting .478 from the field and adding 5.6 rebounds per game.

Over 125 career games, Owusu averaged 13.8 points and 4.3 assists, making over 45-percent of her shots from the field. She has amassed 1,726 points and 533 assists. She earned the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, the highest honor for a shooting guard in the women’s college game, in 2021 while playing at Maryland, garnering All-America accolades from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USWBA) and Associated Press (AP). While with the Terrapins, Owusu was a three-time All-Big Ten selection, while leading the Terps to a pair of Big Ten Tournament titles.

Press Conference Recording: https://bit.ly/4aQtGr2

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- The Rangers farm system has produced a number of elite hitters in recent years, most notably Josh Jung, Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford, all of whom are currently on the big league roster.

But something that has felt true since the beginning of time (or at least when the club arrived in Arlington in 1972) is that the Rangers cannot develop elite starting pitching within their system. Homegrown starter Cody Bradford is off to a hot start in his second big league season with a 1.40 ERA over his first three outings.

But are there more coming?

“I'm excited to see what our coaching and development group does this year with some of our pitchers, especially ones on bounce-back seasons,” Rangers assistant general manager for player development Ross Fenstermaker said during Spring Training.

“I know we've talked about it for a few years now, but it takes a while for these arms to come together. It's a nonlinear path to the big leagues for pitchers and I just have a, I don’t know, call it a gut feeling, that this is going to be the year of the pitcher on the farm. And I'm excited to see these guys break through.”

Chief among them may be Jack Leiter, the Rangers’ first pick in the 2021 MLB Draft at No. 2 overall.

Leiter has had a rocky start to his professional career, including ERAs north of 5.00 in both 2022 and ‘23. But after a month-long stint on the development list last season, the Rangers’ No. 8 prospect made mechanical tweaks that appeared to have positive returns.

He returned from the development list late last season and posted a 3.31 ERA, allowing just four walks while notching 25 strikeouts in his final four starts for Double-A Frisco. He made one start with Triple-A Round Rock at the end of the year before returning to the level in 2024.

The tweaks have seemingly continued to pay off so far, and he’s looked more and more comfortable in each outing, starting in Spring Training and throughout the first month of the Minor League season.

His first start with Triple-A Round Rock this season was pushed back by rehabbing big leaguer Michael Lorenzen, though Leiter ultimately tossed five innings of relief. He struck out nine, while walking just one.

His third and most recent start was the best of them, despite a few hiccups. Leiter tossed six innings, allowing three runs on Friday night. All three runs came on solo homers. While that should be hard to ignore, what’s more important is how the 23-year-old righted the ship shortly thereafter.

After allowing one homer in the first inning and two in the second, he locked down for three scoreless innings on the back end of his outing. He struck out 10 and walked none for his first double-digit strikeout game of the year.

Most importantly, he’s now got 25 strikeouts to just three walks on the season.

“Jack’s done great,” general manager Chris Young said. “He had a great spring and our expectation is if Jack continues to trend the way he has, he will help us out. The best thing for Jack's development is likely to continue the success in Triple-A for a period of time. He's in consideration based on how he's performed to help us at any point should somebody go down or should somebody underperform or he performed to a level that warrants consideration.”

Leiter impressed the big league staff throughout Spring Training, and showed that he could contribute at the big league level. He isn’t a finished product, but this is the best he’s looked in his professional career by far.

He may be in Arlington sooner rather than later.

“You're always evolving,” Leiter told MLB Pipeline. “Hitters are evolving, the game is evolving, everything changes. So it's just about adapting and overcoming. To do that, it all comes back to the process, the routine and what you're doing to prepare yourself. If you do a good job with that, it makes it a lot easier to trust everything else.”

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Other notable pitching lines this week:

Double-A Frisco: RHP Emiliano Teodo (No. 16 prospect) Facing off against rehabbing Astros starter Justin Verlander, Teodo allowed no hits in his brief four-inning outing. He cruised through his first three frames, allowing just one baserunner, though he finished by giving up one run on four walks and no hits. He logged five strikeouts.

Teodo impressed during big league camp this spring, coming off an electric offseason in which he was named the Arizona Fall League Reliever of the Year. He could be in the big league bullpen as soon as 2025, though the Rangers have definitely given up on him as a potential starter.

High-A Hickory: RHP Aidan Curry (No. 19) Final line: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1BB, 7 K The Carolina League Pitcher of the Year with Single-A Down East in 2023, Curry is one of the Rangers' more underrated pitching prospects. He’s looking to build off a solid campaign in Single-A in 2023, when he compiled a 2.30 ERA, .163 opponents' average against and 99 strikeouts in 82 innings (19 appearances).

Single-A Down East: LHP Kohl Drake None of the Rangers’ Top 30 prospects are currently with Single-A Down East, due to the advancement of many of the best pitchers in the system. Drake, an 11th-rounder in the 2022 MLB Draft, made the best start for the Wood Ducks this week, tossing four shutout innings against the Carolina Mudcats. He struck out six while walking just one.

Arlington (Texas) defensive tackle Dilan Battle made first trip to Los Angeles this weekend with his family and the Trojans did their best to make a return trip…

Arlington (Texas) defensive tackle Dilan Battle made first trip to Los Angeles this weekend with his family and the Trojans did their best to make a return trip imminent.

Battle, who rescheduled his trip for this week, spent Saturday on campus to watch the Trojans' scrimmage.

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USC's NLRB case resumes with momentum tilting against school, NCAA, Pac-12

The university is part of an historic lawsuit in terms of player compensation and developments across the country have put the momentum against USC and its' co-defendants.

R.J. AbeytiaApr 14th, 7:25 PM

USC is part of a lawsuit filed by the National Labor Relations board against the university, the NCAA and the Pac-12. The lawsuit alleges the Trojans, NCAA and their former conference home are de facto employers of the schools' revenue sport (football, men's and women's basketball) student-athletes. A ruling in the NLRB's favor that remained upheld through inevitable appeals would change the college football landscape forever. College football would be identified as the professional league it's been since television revenue swallowed it whole decades ago.

The hearing resumes this week on Tuesday morning (4/16) in Los Angeles. Per the NLRB release, "This is the first complaint and unfair labor practice hearing after the NLRB General Counsel issued her memo in September 2021 with her guidance on employee-status of players at academic institutions."

Abruzzo's memo claimed the following:

"Certain Players at Academic Institutions (sometimes referred to as student athletes), are employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and, as such, are afforded all statutory protections.

The memo further advises that, where appropriate, she will allege that misclassifying such employees as mere "student-athletes" and leading them to believe that they are not entitled to the Act's protection has a chilling effect on Section 7 activity and is an independent violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act."

That memo opened the door for the lawsuit USC is now fighting along with the NCAA and the Pac-12 conference. Abruzzo made clear the bottom line in her memo:

"Players at Academic Institutions perform services for institutions in return for compensation and subject to their control. Thus, the broad language of Section 2(3) of the Act, the policies underlying the NLRA, Board law, and the common law fully support the conclusion that certain Players at Academic Institutions are statutory employees, who have the right to act collectively to improve their terms and conditions of employment," Abruzzo added.

USC's trial has included requests for access to coaches' salaries and school revenue from athletics among other data points. The focus of the most recent sessions was the USC Student-Athlete Handbook. The handbook includes a number of guidelines and directives the NLRB considers examples of an employee-employer relationship.

Since this trial began, another development suggested the lean on this issue may be tilting further towards the players.

On March 14, the NLRB's Region 1-Boston Regional Director issued certification and notice it was obligated to bargain on behalf of the Dartmouth men's basketball team. Dartmouth filed a request for review and the wheels across the country are not going to spin any faster than they do in the case of USC's litigation. However, it's another piece of momentum in the wake of the Supreme Court's Alston ruling and the injunction from a federal judge in Tennessee that put the clamps on the NCAA enforcing any of its existing NIL/Collective rules.

We'll have more on USC's case as it unfolds this week. For now, the legal impetus towards football and basketball players attaining employee status remains in the players' favor.

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