Ex-WVU women’s star JJ Quinerly: What are her odds of making the Dallas Wings?

If you follow me on social media – even casually – you’ll know I’m a big fan of former WVU women’s basketball player JJ Quinerly. Her determined play was a joy to watch during her Mountaineer career.
So, it was heart-warming to see her name called in Monday’s WNBA Draft. She became the 11th player in WVU history to be selected and the first since 2021 when Kysre Gondrezick was selected No. 4 overall.
If you missed the news, Quinerly was picked by the Dallas Wings, who made a splash by taking Connecticut star guard Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 overall pick.
The Wings took Bueckers as well as Aziaha James of N.C. State, the No. 12 pick in the first round, and second round pick (No. 14 overall) Madison Scott of Ole Miss. All, like Quinerly, taken in the third round, No. 27 overall, are guards. (The Wings also selected Baylor center Aaronette Vonieh after Quinerly).
I haven’t followed the WNBA closely until lately, but have followed the NBA and a question popped into my head after taking a close look at Quinerly’s situation: What are the odds she makes the team?
Well, there’s good news and bad. Let’s start and end with the good.
First, the Wings’ press release had a glowing assessment of Quinerly.
“We are excited about our entire draft class,” said Dallas Wings Head Coach Chris Koclanes. He went over each draftee and said this about the ex-Mountaineer:
“JJ is someone we loved watching all year. Her effort and physicality defensively is special and on the offensive side of the ball it’s tough to keep her from getting to her spots.”
“We are ecstatic with our draft class and how the night played out,” said Dallas Wings Executive Vice President and General Manager Curt Miller. “We added leaders and culture creators on and off the floor. We also addressed many areas that we targeted heading into the draft. Those areas included adding additional scoring punch, disruptive defensive players, and overall post depth. This class is filled with warriors, and we look forward to their arrival into Dallas.”
Miller didn’t mention Quinerly by name but “culture creators” and “disruptive defensive players” and “warriors” describe JJ to a T.
Now some bad news. Each WNBA team has a roster with a minimum of 11 players and a maximum of 12 players. While teams can sign up to 18 players during training camp, they must make final cuts to fit the roster size.
According to Front Office Sports, “About a week after the women’s NCAA tournament crowns a champion, a few dozen fresh-eyed hoopers are drafted into the WNBA. They ship out to their new cities and try their best at training camp, but by the time official rosters are released in May, roughly half of those selected on draft night — if that — make the cut.
“Just 13 players drafted in 2024 made an opening day roster, only 15 players did in 2023, and 17 players did in 2022. With only 12 teams at 12 players apiece — though often teams only sign 11 players with the hard salary cap — many athletes good enough to play in the WNBA don’t end up on a roster. With no G League equivalent, many of these players end up overseas.”
Of course, WVU fans will always support Quinerly wherever she goes. And there are more and more WNBA spots opening every year. This year, the Golden State Valkyries were added to the mix and next year the Toronto Tempo and a still unnamed Portland team enter the league, increasing the number of roster spots from 156 to 180.
But back to the good news.
On Tuesday, Rachel Galligan of Bleacher Report graded every pick of the WNBA Draft with a full 3-round analysis. She gave the Wings an A+ for drafting Bueckers; an A for taking James; a B+ for taking Scott; a B for taking Quinerly; and a B for taking Vonleh.
Here’s the important part though. In her overall analysis, Galligan wrote this:
“The Wings have undergone a massive shift in the offseason from roster changes, additions, a new general manager in Curt Miller and a new head coach in Chris Koclanes. There is a lot of opportunity to be had for this draft class to compete for roster spots with Dallas currently having seven players under contract.”
If we know Quinerly, we know all she needs is an opening.
Here’s wishing her the best moving forward.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.