LAS VEGAS -- The 2025 WNBA Draft is officially done and dusted. The Las Vegas Aces’ first-round selection was stripped by the WNBA owing to the De’Arica Hamby controversy, though Las Vegas did have the opening pick of the second round and the No.35 overall pick in the third.
The Aces used the No. 13 overall pick to draft sharpshooter Aaliyah Nye from the University of Alabama. Like Kate Martin last season, Nye wasn’t invited to the draft on her own. She was in attendance in support of her teammate, Sarah Ashlee Barker, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks with the ninth overall pick. Nye made it clear, however, that she fully expected to be drafted and that contributed to her decision to be in New York on Monday night. Her emotions proved it.
“It's very nerve wracking,” Nye said. “I got very nervous. I'm excited, obviously, to be picked and I'm just very blessed. There's so many people that have supported me through this whole journey, so I was just very excited and also nervous at the same time.
“When you're coming into the W, you're playing with great players. You're not going to get all the shine like you may have done in college. I think just (caring for my teammates) and having that value is very important. We share the love and all we care about is getting wins, so I think it will carry over to the W.”
Las Vegas also selected Harvard star Harmoni Turner with the No. 35 overall pick in the third round. This is a selection that could very well end up being the steal of the draft. Turner is a dominant 5’10 forward who controlled the game on both ends of the floor with the Crimson.
In a recent pre-draft article for Ballislife, I called Turner one of the most intriguing prospects in the entire 2025 draft. I also wrote that Turner was one of the nation’s best three-level scorers throughout both this season and her entire college career, evidenced by record-breaking 40-plus point performances against Boston College in the regular season and Princeton in the semifinals of the Ivy League tournament.
The comparison I gave Turner? Kierstan Bell, who’s still a member of the Aces organization after being drafted eleventh out of Florida Gulf Coast University in 2020.
