Connecticut Sun set roster for 2024 WNBA season: Meet the team, from Alyssa Thomas to two former UConn stars

The Connecticut Sun finalized its roster for the 2024 WNBA season on Monday, and the team will carry a squad of 11 veterans into its opening matchup against the Indiana Fever on Tuesday nigh.

Guards Sydney Weise and Jocelyn Willoughby, both on training camp contracts, were the Sun’s last two cuts at the deadline after the team waived both its rookie draft picks on Friday. Connecticut returns six players from last year’s squad that reached the WNBA semifinals, and four of its five newcomers have at least six seasons of experience in the league. The team also includes three All-Stars and two former WNBA champions.

Coach Stephanie White led the Sun to a 27-13 record and continued the franchise’s seven-year streak of playoff appearances in her first season at the helm. Maintaining an experienced core was crucial for the team to build on White’s unique offensive system, and Connecticut feels confident that it has the pieces in 2024 to get over the championship hump. The Sun have made two finals appearances since 2019, but the franchise has never won a title.

Connecticut tips off the 2024 season against the Fever in a highly-anticipated matchup that also marks the professional debut of No. 1 draft pick Caitlin Clark at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., ESPN2).

Rachel Banham, 5-10 guard

Experience: Eight years

What to know: Banham signed with the Sun as a free agent in 2024 after three seasons with the Minnesota Lynx. She was drafted by the Sun with the No. 4 in 2016 and spent the first four years of her career in Connecticut. Banham averaged 5.5 points shooting 40.2% from 3-point range in 13.6 minutes per game last season.

DeWanna Bonner, 6-4 forward

Experience: 14 years

What to know: Bonner enters her fifth season in Connecticut coming off of her fifth career All-Star season in 2023. She played 10 years for the Phoenix Mercury and won two WNBA championships before signing with the Sun in 2020. Bonner averaged 17.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and a steal last year.

DiJonai Carrington, 5-11 guard

Experience: Three years

What to know: Carrington is the only player on the roster on a protected rookie scale contract and is poised to start for the Sun in her fourth season since she was drafted in the second round in 2023. She averaged a career-high 8.3 points shooting 41.7% from the field last season and was voted runner up for Sixth Woman of the Year.

Queen Egbo, 6-4 forward

Experience: Two years

What to know: Egbo joined the Sun less than a week ago via a trade with the Washington Mystics, adding depth to the front court behind the starting core. She was drafted by the Indiana Fever in 2022 and was traded to Washington last June, where she averaged 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 21 appearances.

Tyasha Harris, 5-10 guard

Experience: Four years

What to know: Harris was traded to Connecticut in 2023 after three seasons with the Dallas Wings and led the Sun in 3-point shooting last year hitting 46.4%. Harris averaged 5.8 points per game plus 1.7 assists in 16.7 minutes per game.

Moriah Jefferson, 5-6 guard

Experience: Seven years

What to know: Jefferson is a UConn legend as part of the class that won four consecutive NCAA championships from 2012-16. She spent last season with the Phoenix Mercury and appeared in a career-high 39 games averaging 10.5 points, 3.6 assists and a steal shooting 43.4% from the field. The Sun are Jefferson’s fifth team in eight seasons.

Brionna Jones, 6-3 forward

Experience: Seven years

What to know: Jones’s 2023 season was cut short by an Achilles rupture, but she was on pace for her best year as a pro averaging 15.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 13 appearances. Jones is a two-time All-Star and won the Sixth Woman of the Year Award in 2022 after being named Most Improved Player in 2021.

Tiffany Mitchell, 5-9 guard

Experience: Eight years

What to know: Mitchell played the first seven seasons of her career with the Indiana Fever, but she was traded to Connecticut by the Minnesota Lynx after she played a single season there in 2023. Mitchell played most of her minutes out of position as the Lynx battled an injury bug, averaging 7.3 points and 2.3 assists shooting 40.4% from the field.

Astou Ndour-Fall, 6-5 forward

Experience: Six years

What to know: Ndour-Fall returns to the WNBA for the first time since 2021 after spending the last two seasons playing overseas. She won a championship with the Chicago Sky in 2021, averaging 6.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa, 6-5 center

Experience: Two years

What to know: Nelson-Ododa was drafted by the Sun in 2022 out of UConn and showed steady improvement in her second season last year. She averaged 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in 15 minutes per game, and the center is expected to play a larger role in 2024 after playing in China during the offseason.

Alyssa Thomas, 6-2 forward

Experience: 10 years

What to know: Thomas’s 2023 season was not just the best of her career but one of the best in WNBA history. She averaged 15.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists — all career highs — and became the first player to log 600 points, 300 rebounds and 300 assists in a single season. Thomas also set the WNBA’s single-season record for triple-doubles with six and finished runner-up in MVP voting.