L.A. sparked by a Rae of light
Southern Nevada product Rae Burrell was taken 9th overall in the 2022 WNBA Draft.
Photo Courtesy: Los Angeles Sparks
By Poppy Cartledge
LAS VEGAS -- Rae Burrell always had a knack of finding competition growing up. From the basketball court to the soccer field, Burrell utilized all her skills to maximize her athletic ability whenever she got the chance.
She not only made a name for herself around Southern Nevada through her athletic capabilities, but also by exuberating her bubbly personality wherever she went.
“I was fortunate enough to coach her her senior year and she just was a great overall player and person,” said Chad Kapanui, Liberty High School’s women’s basketball coach. “You know, just putting aside her basketball skills and all that, she was a real down to earth, goofy person, and she's still the same to this day.”
Burrell played for Kapanui her senior year of high school. During that year, the 6-foot-1 guard/forward played a big role in Liberty’s success. It won the Sunrise Region and also made a huge stride to beat long-time powerhouse Centennial High School, but fell short 74-65 in the state championship.
“Rae actually kept us in the game, she was probably the leading scorer, pretty much the whole game,” Kapanui said.
Burrell went on to play three seasons of basketball at the University of Tennessee where she furthered her ways of being an integral part of the team’s success and culture. After seeing action in every game as a freshman, Burrell went on to become the 47th Lady Vol to tally 1,000+ career points (1,131).
Despite suffering a knee injury in her first game of the 2021-22 season which kept the senior on the sidelines for 12 games, Burrell managed to make it back for the postseason where she helped lead the team to its first Sweet 16 appearance in six years.
However, her greatest achievement was yet to come.
On March 29, days after losing in the third round of the Sweet 16 to Louisville where she also set a season-high of 22 points, Burrell renounced her remaining Covid-19 year of eligibility at Tennessee and posted her decision on instagram to enter the 2022 WNBA draft.
“Definitely the WNBA is a goal I have for the end of this year,” Burrell said briefly at the Lady Vol media day back in October 2021.
On April 11, the Las Vegas native accomplished this long awaited goal after she went on to be picked No. 9 overall in the first round by the Los Angeles Sparks.
COMPETITIVE NATURE
The road to being the best is never an easy one, but it sure is a little easier and a lot more fun if you naturally love to compete. This is what gave Burrell an advantage over her peers.
Her mother, Ann Burrell, said that her feisty and assertive personality showed through at a young age.
“Rae just wanted to do everything that (her brother) Jay did,” Ann Burrell said. “I mean he was older, so she was always trying to keep up with him and what he was doing.”
Burrell grew up playing a number of different sports, but along with basketball, she played soccer at a high level. Her mom said at one point she contemplated doing both in college.
“I'm kind of like ‘I’m not quite sure that's possible,’” Ann Burrell said, recalling the memory.
However, her sophomore year of high school was the turning point where she decided that basketball was going to be her future.
THE LEAGUE
“I'm just like, making sure that I'm really taking advantage of, you know, this opportunity that has been given to me,” Burrell said in regards to being drafted.
She said that despite the wide realm of emotions that flooded her when her name was called that night, relief was the most overwhelming feeling that washed over her.
“It was definitely an unreal feeling,” Burrell said. “There's a lot of people that want to be in this position.”
Receiving a roster spot in the WNBA is notoriously difficult with there being only 12 teams that hold 12 players per squad, a total of 144 roster spots overall.
Burrell gets to not only be a part of a roster, but “LA Rae” is back on the familiar West Coast and had the opportunity to start her career being coached by an NBA legend, Derek Fisher.
During a visit to Las Vegas for a game against the Aces, and before he was fired on June 7, Fisher said that the Sparks had been watching Burrell throughout her years with Tennessee.
“Rae was always on our draft board as a priority if she would be available at No. 9,” Fisher said confidently.
The knee injury from her senior year carried into this season with the Sparks, but Fisher said that they know nothing is structurally wrong, so it was important to go on this journey with her early in her career as she’s now on the road to recovery.
But much like what most people say when they speak about Burrell, although her abilities on the court speak for themselves, the person she is outshines anything she does with a basketball and makes her a crucial person to have on a team.
“For us, we felt like the opportunity to draft a player like Rae, a person like Rae and get her into our system, into our program was (important),” Fisher said. “She's been doing very well with her personality and who she is as a competitor.”