Ariel Atkins, Sug Sutton to represent Texas as 2024 WNBA season tips off Tuesday
When the WNBA season tips off Tuesday night, the Texas Longhorns will be represented.
Former UT guards Ariel Atkins (Washington Mystics) and Sug Sutton (Phoenix Mercury) will both be in action for the season openers. The Mystics play the New York Liberty (6 p.m., ESPN+) and the Mercury play the Las Vegas Aces, who have won the last two WNBA championships (9 p.m., ESPN2).
Atkins, a first-round pick in 2018, is entering her seventh season with the Mystics. For her WNBA career, Atkins has averaged 13.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. The two-time WNBA all-star and Olympic gold medalist is a five-time selection on the WNBA all-defensive team. Sutton was the last pick of the 2020 draft by Washington; after playing 12 games that year, she missed the next two WNBA seasons, then signed with the Mercury last year and averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 assists.
The Mercury and Mystics play each other three times this season, the first game scheduled for May 23. Years ago, when asked about Atkins, Sutton told the American-Statesman that "she's been a mentor to me."
There's a third player with Longhorns ties as well. Former Texas guard Celeste Taylor, a rookie for the Indiana Fever, is a teammate of fellow rookie Caitlin Clark and they'll make their WBNA debuts Tuesday night against the Connecticut Sun (6:30 p.m., ESPN2, Disney +). Taylor transferred from Texas in 2021 after playing two seasons with the Longhorn and finished her career at Ohio State. She and Sutton were UT teammates during the 2019-20 season.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former Texas basketball players ready for first games of WNBA season
