Sure, that was actually back in April, but the lone Gamecock present at the draft in New York that night remembers all the nerves she felt waiting for her name to be called.
“I was very emotional,” Feagin said. “It’s a moment everyone strives for, everybody wants. And when it takes a while for your name to get called, you get a little impatient, you get a little scared. So I can’t say I wasn’t a little nervous. I was getting a little impatient, but everything happens for a reason and everything worked out the way that it did.”
Feagin was taken by the Los Angeles Sparks with the No. 21 overall pick in the second round of the draft.
She and her South Carolina teammates were all selected near each other in the second round. Te-Hina Paopao was drafted by Atlanta with the No. 18 overall pick, and Bree Hall was selected right before Feagin by the Fever with at No. 20.
“I just remember before we got drafted, picked together, Coach (Dawn) Staley had texted us and was like, ‘Just continue to keep being patient. Everything will fall in line. Your time is coming,’” Feagin recalled. “…We just stayed ready and our time came, and we got drafted around each other. So we just were so excited for each other.”
Feagin’s rookie year with the Sparks came to a close on Sept. 11. She took time to chat with The State about everything she learned during her first season as a pro.
Fighting for a spot on the roster
Just because you’re selected in the WNBA Draft doesn’t mean you’re promised a spot on the roster at the end of training camp. And Feagin knew that.
“I remember just everybody who’s in the draft, who’s in the league right now kept saying, it doesn’t matter the number you’re getting picked at, just a matter of the 12 people that make the roster,” Feagin said. “So no matter what, don’t put your head down when you get picked in the second round. Just go out there and do what you need to do.”
Feagin worked hard to carve out a spot for herself on the Sparks’ roster in training camp, which started less than a month after her college career ended.
Her time under Dawn Staley at South Carolina ultimately helped her find some success in training camp, Feagin said.
“Honestly, I kept the main thing the main thing,” Feagin said. “I went out there and I just was being myself. I knew what I was capable of doing and I was playing to my standard every single time, because I had one goal, and the goal was to make the roster. And I met that goal. And when I met that goal, I just worked harder every day from there.”
A video of Sparks general manager Raegan Pebley informing Feagin she made the team went viral on social media. In the video, Feagin said she’d been moved to tears by her nerves on her way to the meeting with Pebley.
“They had kind of scared me,” Feagin said. “They called me up to the office and they were talking basically like I didn’t make the team. And then it was like, you made the team. … They really had my heart beating super fast in the car on the way to the office. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I’m super nervous.’ But I was super excited after I found out I made it.”
Evaluation of Year One
Feagin is just one year into her professional career, but there are certainly some parallels between the beginning of her time with the Gamecocks and her first year with the Sparks.
At South Carolina it took time for Feagin to blossom into the starter she became in her senior year. Feagin came in and had to learn from the bench with limited playing time because she was behind first-round talents like Aliyah Boston, Laeticia Amihere and Kamilla Cardoso early in her career.
The same goes for her rookie year in Los Angeles.
“I had to wait my turn against vets and people who’ve been in the league longer than me,” Feagin said. “So I can say this, it does feel like the same as South Carolina. I’m just soaking it all in … understanding that I’m with people who won championships, people who’ve been all-stars.”
The lessons she learned from her patience at South Carolina helped her learn from veteran forwards like Dearica Hambry, Rickea Jackson and more this season, Feagin said.
“I continue to be a sponge,” Feagin said. “I was watching Dearica and everything that she did. How she moved as a post player and what made her be where she is now. All I could do was be a sponge and understand when I go and practice to do the same thing … and show the coaches that I’m ready, whenever my number is called.”
Feagin said her biggest takeaway from her rookie year is that she believes she’s figured out what she needs to do to see more playing time in the future. The solution? Continuing to work hard, she said, and also improving her 3-point shot and “banging a little bit more” in the post.
What’s next?
Like many WNBA players, Feagin will head overseas this offseason.
Feagin will play for the Adelaide Lightning of the Women’s National Basketball League in Australia. She said she’ll be down under with the team on Oct. 3. The Lightning’s first game of the season is Oct. 19 against the Perth Lynx.
Feagin said playing in Australia will be a mental and physical challenge, but it can only prepare and help her improve before her second WNBA season in 2026.
“Honestly, just to go out there and be who I am,” Feagin said of her WNBL goals. “I know what I can do. I know I’m capable of doing. Going out there and just being my best self. Mentally getting stronger, because I’m about to be in Australia alone. So I have no choice but to mentally get strong, and I feel like I’ll be able to do that out there.”
