Apr 12, 2023 - Sports

Local star Jordan Horston taking talents to the WNBA

Tyler Buchanan

WNBA draftee Jordan Horston holds up a Seattle Storm uniform next to the WNBA commissioner. — WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, left, and Jordan Horston, of Columbus, pose during the WNBA draft Monday. Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Jordan Horston honed her basketball skills the same way many kids do: playing one-on-one against her father, Leigh.

Driving the news: The Columbus native, who eventually beat him once she reached high school, is now taking on the best women's basketball players in the world as the newest player for the Seattle Storm.

The shooting guard was selected No. 9 overall in Monday's WNBA draft, one of many amazing life journeys among the top players picked, Axios Sports' Kendall Baker writes.
Massillon native and OSU Buckeye Taylor Mikesell is another local success story — she went in the second round to the Indiana Fever.

Flashback: Horston won a state title as a senior at Columbus Africentric Early College and went on to have a successful four-year collegiate career at Tennessee, twice reaching the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen.

She returned to her hometown to host a youth basketball camp last summer.

The intrigue: Horston plans to coach after her playing days are over, just like her dad Leigh, a longtime assistant for Northland High School.

Nowadays, her dad is wary of taking on the future WNBA star in any driveway pick-up games.

"He don't wanna play me no more," she jokingly told the Knoxville News Sentinel. "I don't want to hurt his back."

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Local star Jordan Horston taking talents to the WNBA

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