Rickea Jackson

Jackson, the No. 4 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, finished her collegiate career with two years in Tennessee after spending her first three seasons at Mississippi State. She now joins the Sparks' new-look frontcourt, which also added No. 2 pick Cameron Brink but lost Nneka Ogwumike to free agency this offseason. Dearica Hamby, Monique Billings, Stephanie Talbot and Kia Nurse are veterans with nice track records and should carve out roles, but the young wave will take over eventually. Jackson was a dominant low-post player in college, averaging 20.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.6 minutes as a senior, but she struggled to develop her game. After shooting 41.9 percent from three on only 0.9 attempts per game as a freshman, she tried to expand her range but didn't maintain efficiency with a higher shot volume, finishing with a 33.8 percent mark from beyond the arc on 2.6 attempts per night as a senior. Jackson also didn't offer a ton of defensive production at Tennessee, averaging 0.9 steals-plus-blocks in 2023-24, compared to 2.4 during her final campaign at Mississippi State (2021-22).