Ruth Hamblin To Miss 2017 WNBA Season, Compete with Team Canada

The Dallas Wings added plenty of talent in the 2017 WNBA Draft Thursday night. But they’ll be a little smaller and a little less Canadian in light of the decision by center Ruth Hamblin to sit out the 2017 season and pursue a role with Team Canada instead.

“We support Ruth in pursuing her life-long dream of representing her country in international competition,” Wings General Manager Greg Bibb said Friday. “We wish her and her teammates the best as they train and begin the qualification process.”

[More: Read Team-by-Team Grades from the 2017 WNBA Draft]

Hamblin played in 20 games in 2016, her rookie season, finishing third on the team in rebounding percentage at 13 percent and led the Wings in block percentage at 5.2 percent. Her role with Team Canada should be significant, as a rim protector for a group looking to qualify for next year’s World Championships.

The 6’6 center who helped lead Oregon State to the 2015 Final Four also leaves the Wings without a qualified rocket scientist. It is unclear who the Wings will ask to fill that role should the need to build a rocket come up.