Awa Fam, a 19-year-old Spanish basketball player of Senegalese descent, was selected third overall by the Seattle Storm (a franchise in the WNBA, the top professional women's basketball league in the United States) at the draft ceremony held at The Shed cultural centre in Manhattan — the highest pick ever achieved by a Spanish player of either gender, matching the spot claimed by NBA legend Pau Gasol in 2001. Fam grew up in Santa Pola, a small fishing town in Alicante, the daughter of Senegalese immigrants who worked travelling markets to support their family; she began playing basketball at age three or four alongside her older brothers, and left home at 12 to develop her talent at Valencia Basket's academy. The selection marks a remarkable rise for a player who still keeps the pair of second-hand Adidas trainers — bought with donations from her local Senegalese community — that she wore when she first left for Valencia, and who continues to return each summer to mentor young players at her hometown club.