By Doug Harris

Ally Malott and Andrea Hoover, both 2015 grads, in April became the first two UD women's players to be drafted by the WNBA, Malott going No. 8 overall to the Washington Mystics and Hoover 31st to the Los Angeles Sparks.

The wage scale in the WNBA is pedestrian by NBA standards. The average rookie salary is about $36,500.

But Malott and Hoover have spent almost their entire lives in basketball, and they're thrilled to be getting paid to play the game they love.

"I've definitely thought about it since I was little," Malott said. "The WNBA is not as popular as the NBA. But I think that's the ultimate goal for everyone when you start considering a basketball career.

"It's pretty crazy. Growing up and watching them play on TV, and now you have an opportunity to play with them — that's pretty cool."

Malott and Hoover carried the women's program to new heights, reaching the Elite Eight and putting a mighty scare into eventual champion UConn.

Both area products turned down more renowned programs for the chance to play close to home, and they're grateful for how UD and coach Jim Jabir molded them for the future.

"I couldn't have gotten the career I had at the University of Dayton anywhere else," said Hoover, a Bellbrook native. "It's just all the other stuff you can't really measure — the community, how many people you meet, the opportunities you have. You can't put a number on that, how it's impacted my character and integrity.

"I'm going to take that stuff and go into the real world. And I wouldn't change my last four years for anything."

Malott, a former McDonald's All-American from Middletown, became the second-highest draftee in either the men's or women's program (behind only John Horan, the NBA's fifth overall selection in 1955).

"I would pick Dayton 10 times again," Malott said. "I met so many cool people. Coach Jabir and so many others have done so much for me, and my teammates are going to be my friends for life."