Nate Allen

FAYETTEVILLE - Off of his 19-9 Arkansas Razorbacks women’s basketball game, Coach Mike Neighbors beamed Thursday night watching All-American/first-team All-SEC guard Chelsea Dungee and second-team All-SEC guard Destiny Slocum become professionals selected in the WNBA draft.

Dungee of Sapulpa, Okla. starring three years at Arkansas after a redshirt year upon transferring from the University of Oklahoma, was the fifth player taken in the draft selected by the Dallas Wings. Slocum, a graduate transfer to Arkansas in 2020-2021 via Oregon State University, was the 14th player selected in the draft as a second round draft choice of the Las Vegas Aces.

“It speaks volumes to those kids to work so hard to get to that point,” Neighbors said. “How lucky we were to get to coach them Destiny for one and Chelsea for four. To see their excitement. that’s one of the many whys that we coach for days like today.”

With three great seasons at Arkansas but with her sophomore season greater than her junior year, Dungee spoke starting her senior year how hard she worked over the summer to get in the best physical condition of her life.
Obviously it paid off.

“For her to be drafted that high, that goes back to how hard that kid worked,” Neighbors said. “She was not a Top Five kid coming out of high school. She wasn’t a Top 50. It’s a really cool story for a lot of little girls across the state that wore her jersey that she’s one they can really look up to. To end up in the Top Five of all the accolades that may be the crowning jewel.”

At Las Vegas, Slocum joins Kelsey Plum, a star player for the Aces and a former All-American for Neighbors when he coached Washington State and who this WNBA offseason assisted Neighbors’ staff as a graduate assistant. “The Aces have a lot of great players and looking at their salary cap they need a rookie,” Neighbors said. “Destiny’s in a favorable spot. And she has somebody (Plum) she can pick up the phone and call.”

Neighbors already knows the two dates that the Aces and Wings are scheduled to play this summer and that he will attend at least one of them.