Spanish basketball player María Conde was among several international players the Valkyries drafted during the Dec. 6 Expansion Draft. While she might not be a familiar face to American WNBA fans (yet!), Conde is well-known throughout Europe for her basketball prowess.
Despite having been drafted by the Sky in 2019, Conde has yet to play on a WNBA court — but that's all by choice. In fact, GM Ohemaa Nyanin has admitted the team isn't completely sure that Conde will play for the Valkyries next season, but if she wants a spot, it's hers.
"We don’t know if she’s going to be coming over in the 2025 season," Nyanin told reporters after the Expansion Draft. "We just wanted the opportunity to talk to her and give her an opportunity to come over if she wanted to."
If she does decide to make her WNBA debut next year, Conde will bring plenty of veteran experience with her, and that's something the Valkyries will definitely benefit from.
She brings plenty of international veteran experience to the young team
Conde has played professionally in Europe since 2014, when she joined Spanish Liga Femenina. She averaged 15.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 15.6% efficiency per game.
Conde also joined the Spanish National Team the following year and helped lead the squad to a gold medal. At the same time, she averaged 16.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game — not to mention 18 points and 17 rebounds in the team's Quarter Finals match against Belgium, 20 points and 8 rebounds in the Semifinals against Italy, and 21 points and 16 rebounds in the Final against France.
In short, she's tough.
She has experience in the NCAA system
Conde came to Florida State for college, where she played for the university during the 2015-16 season and the 2016-2017 season. She promptly turned around and won gold medals in the 2017 European Senior Championship and U20 European Championship in 2017 as well.
Conde continued her professional career from that part on before she was drafted into the WNBA in 2019. She opted to stay in Europe and played for CCC Polkowice (2019-2020), USK Prague (2020-2021), USK Praha (2022-2023). She resigned for with Prague for the 2023-2024 season.
She has a killer behind-the-back pass
If there's one thing the Valkyries can really, really look forward to, it's Conde's behind-the-back pass. This is how you do it, people!