By Madie Chandler | FeverBasketball.com
Just one year after the Indiana Fever selected Caitlin Clark first overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Fever front office personnel gathered to add another layer of talent to a roster already oozing with skill.
Indiana entered the 2025 draft with picks 19, 20, and 33 overall, but left with three players capable of raising the level of competition for the Indiana Fever this summer.
The Fever selected Makayla Timpson with the 19th overall selection – a 6-foot-2 forward out of Florida State that boasts a 6-foot-10 wingspan. Timpson played all four of her college basketball seasons for the Seminoles, and wrapped her college career as Florida State women’s basketball’s all-time leader in double-doubles as she notched 47 over her career.
“Makayla Timpson is someone that we had really high on our draft board, so when she fell to us at 19, [we were] thrilled,” Fever general manager Amber Cox said on Monday. “[She was] the only player to average a double-double in points [and] rebounds, and then three blocks a game. Incredible wingspan at 6’10”, [and] a defensive powerhouse.”
Timpson shares an alma mater with Fever forward Natasha Howard, and follows Howard’s blueprint on the defensive side of the ball. She earned ACC All-Defensive team honors three times, along with two first-team All-ACC selections in her final two seasons in Tallahassee.
Indiana added Bree Hall at pick no. 20 – another guard that stands 6-feet tall and comes from a storied program. Hall’s tenure as a South Carolina Gamecock included four Final Fours and two national championships. She shared the court with Aliyah Boston from 2021-2023, and the two won a national title together in 2021.
Hall is known for her defensive ability, going so far as to crack South Carolina coach Dawn Staley’s all-time team.
“She’s an elite defender,” Staley said. “…The things she does, the people that she has to guard. In my 25 years of coaching, she’s on my all-time defensive team.”
The 33rd pick in the WNBA Draft, and the final Fever selection of the evening, brought Yvonne Ejim to Indiana. The 6-foot-2 guard out of Gonzaga is the WCC’s back-to-back reigning player of the year and defensive player of the year. Ejim won each of those awards in both 2024 and 2025, and brings international experience to Indiana’s squad as a member of the 2024 Canadian Olympic team.
“[A] really versatile post player,” Cox said about Ejim. “Great face up game…and brings just a different look in that post when you’re thinking about somebody who can play back to the basket. Really high motor, defends really, really well. So again, the name of the game here tonight is to continue to shore up our defense.”
Ejim had Indiana ties before she was even selected by the Fever on Monday evening – Ejim’s older brother, Melvin Ejim, competed on Canada’s Olympic basketball team with the Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard. Yvonne Ejim’s time at Gonzaga overlapped with Nembhard as both arrived on campus in 2020 before Nembhard departed for the NBA after the 2022 season.
Indiana wrapped its 2025 draft with a clear strategy – obtain defense-oriented players with skill and versatility. Those characteristics are vital to coach Stephanie White’s philosophy and style of play, and take a team a long way down the road to a WNBA title.
“I think the most important thing for us is defensive versatility,” White said following the draft. “Now we know we have a lot of weapons on the offensive end of the floor, but on those nights when we’re not making shots, or when things are a little bit more difficult, we’ve got to be able to get stops, and we’ve got to get better in that area, no doubt about it.”
The newest Fever trio will bring their skills to training camp as they compete for roster spots before Indiana officially opens its season on May 17 against the Chicago Sky.
