WNBA DRAFT

April 11, 2022

Naz Hillmon

Atlanta Dream

Q. What does it mean to be the highest-drafted Wolverine ever in the WNBA? Obviously it's been a career of highs for you at Michigan, but to add this as sort of your last Michigan high, I guess.

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, it means the world. Just to continue to represent my university, it just shows the progression of where we were and where we're going to. I do see our team continuing to shoot for the stars.

It really just is the epitome of my career at Michigan and the people who have been around me to get me to this point.

Q. What do you know about Atlanta? I mean that as far as the city and the franchise.

NAZ HILLMON: Just in terms of the city, a big city, something similar to Cleveland, maybe a little bit bigger. I'm excited for that. I know that their program had a lot of people come in and leave, so they're kind of trying to build themselves back up. I'm really excited for that. I can't wait to get the ball rolling.

Q. You've done a lot of winning at Michigan, especially the last two years. Atlanta is a franchise that is kind of building. The last few years have been losing seasons. Can you speak to coming into an organization like that and trying to be a part of turning things around?

NAZ HILLMON: Yes, I think that we kind of saw that with Michigan, where as my years went on, we were able to win more, be more successful, have some firsts. That's what I'm looking to do in Atlanta.

Obviously, it's a little bit different. It's a franchise and it's not college basketball. But I know that I'm willing to take on that challenge, and hopefully I'll be in there long enough to really make some change and turn that program around.

Q. When you look at some of the best guards in the WNBA in this generation, what do you try to do to compete with them as far as improving your game?

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, I know that I can definitely expand my game in terms of hitting outside shots, figuring out ways to draw bigger opponents out so that they'll guard me, and getting to the basket. I think overall perfecting my craft is what I'm good at right now and continuing to expand my game over my time in the league.

Q. When you look back at your college basketball career at Michigan, what do you think were some of the offensive and defensive skill sets that you think could have been a lot better that you can make up for before the WNBA starts?

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, I think just the expanding my game part. I know as a little bit of an undersized post player I'll have to do that. Having a lot of 6-5, 6-6 players that I'll be going against night in and night out, I'll continue to expand that.

Q. I know that social justice was a big part of your time at Michigan. How excited are you to be part of the WNBA, which has been one of the leaders in social change and reform?

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, I'm super excited about that. Obviously, we saw a lot of that during the bubble season, but they're continuing to do that each and every season, I'm sure. They have a lot of advocates, people on the teams that you can talk to and try to get some type of engagement with the community, figure out some things to help with the social injustices with our community.

Year in and year out, the WNBA has taken on that challenge. I'm really excited to be around some people who will continue that work for equality on all fronts.

Q. What quality are you bringing to the Dream day one?

NAZ HILLMON: I just think my energy, intensity. I think that one of the things that makes me the player that I am is my motor. That's something that I'm going to continue to build on and just hustle after every ball, every rebound and do the little things.

Q. Were you disappointed not to be selected in the first round, and if so, is this going to be added motivation for you going forward?

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, I'm just excited to be here. I think that being disappointed in this moment is neglectful to the people who weren't picked up at all. This has been a dream of mine for a very long time. So just being picked up by a team, for somebody to believe in me, first round, third round, I'm excited to be where I'm at.

But everything is motivation. I could have been picked No. 1 and I still would have been motivated to get better, to perfect my craft. I wouldn't say disappointed, but always ready to work.

Q. There was some talk beforehand about maybe the knock was your size. Do you feel like that's unfair, and with your rebounding, with your double-doubles, do you feel like that's something you can show teams now even more?

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, I think that everyone has their opinion on things. I know that there are things that I need to get better at because of my size, which is something that I can't change. But I can also always change my skill set and continue to build off of that.