OLIVIA MILES: First of all, I want to thank my family and all the support. I'm a Jersey kid. I had a lot of people waiting for me at the watch party. I can't wait to go over to them. So be quick. No, I'm kidding.
I just want to say thank you to the Minnesota Lynx as well for believing in me and taking a chance. I'm excited to get to work.
Q. Your rebounding numbers for a guard are elite. How does the ability to just grab the board and go fit in today’s WNBA?
OLIVIA MILES: I think it's great because I don't have to wait for someone to outlet it to me. So I can just grab it and go. I thrive in a high-pace, high-tempo offense and that starts with a rebound and getting a stop.
I try to be aggressive on the glass because I know when the ball's in my hands and I'm in a flow, it's hard to stop.
Q. To be part of a Minnesota team that has a legacy at point guard, especially with Lindsay Whalen, just take me through what it means to be the next person in that line?
OLIVIA MILES: Yeah, I think that's what I was most excited about because obviously she's on staff. I can't wait to learn from her. She played on the Dynasty team with Maya Moore and Seimone and all those greats. I can't wait to just be a sponge.
I'm so excited to be a sponge and just ask questions and be open-minded and be coachable. It's a great honor, but it's also a great responsibility. I trust myself and I have the confidence that I know that I can handle it.
Q. Who is a player in the league you're most excited to learn from and compete against, play with?
OLIVIA MILES: That's a good question. I think I'll say Napheesa Collier. She's been a player that I've looked up to and adored. Just by the way she plays and her energy and her personality and her aura. She's so humble and down-to-earth, and I'm excited to compete with her and to run the pick-and-roll with her and run the pick-and-pop, learn from each other, and I feel like we're just going to be great teammates together. We're going to be killers on the court, for sure.
Q. Obviously so much has been made last year of your decision not go in the draft and go back to college and have a great season at TCU. What does it mean now that the journey's complete and you’ve been drafted tonight No. 2?
OLIVIA MILES: It's like a deep breath. I feel like that's why I got emotional when I heard my name called because it's like it's finally here and I finally heard my name and this was all this was for. To see my family there supporting me and everyone. It came full circle and then obviously to have Coach Campbell there meant everything to me because he was a big part in getting me prepared for this, for this journey and this league.
Q. A lot is made about your offensive game, but I just want to talk about kind of where you see yourself fitting in on the defensive end and how you think you can grow on that end especially on this roster?
OLIVIA MILES: I think I'm excited to compete. I know Coach is going to hold me to a high standard, as well as my teammates. But, yeah, I'm excited to compete and be intense and learn a new pace of the game, fight over ball screens every play and have my welcome-to-the-league moment, if that happens on one of the ball screens.
But, yeah, I'm just excited to compete. There are always areas of growth especially on the defensive end for me, that I'm excited to grow from and I can't wait to start watching film immediately and getting in the gym with those girls, learning tips and tricks that can help me with that.
Q. When you hear your name called, what is actually going through your head? Did you actually hear it? Are you questioning whether it was right?
OLIVIA MILES: I think I was just, like, please happen now, or something, I don't know what I was saying. I was just like, let this moment be the moment. I think that's what I was repeating to myself. Then when you finally hear it, it’s like just an incredible feeling.
It's hard to describe in words. I really don't know what's going on right now, to be honest. I need to take a deep breath and really actually reflect on it. But just very grateful, like I said, for Minnesota taking that chance.
Q. Just saw you meet up with one of the owners of the Lynx, Alex Rodriguez in the building. How cool was that? What did he say to you and what was that like?
OLIVIA MILES: So cool. I mean, I grew up watching him play. My mom's a big baseball fan. So, she always had it on the TV. So, it was cool to obviously watch him growing up and then to finally meet him in person.
And I'm just excited. He just gave me words of encouragement. Told me he's in my corner, and just, you know, gained a new friend and companion, which is nice.
Q. What does it mean being from New Jersey, and what part of that are you going to bring to the WNBA?
OLIVIA MILES: Jersey girls, love it. We're pretty swaggy. Sometimes we're feisty. But I bring a cool, calm presence, I think, that will be really good for the league. It's something that they may not have seen before.
I just can't wait to bring my unique personality and energy to the team. It will be on full display when I play as well. So I'm excited for that.
Q. One of the big decisions prior to tonight was transferring to TCU from Notre Dame. How much has that decision, you know, come to impact or when you look at it in hindsight, how much did that mean coming into tonight's result, getting drafted this far up in the selection?
OLIVIA MILES: Yeah, I think TCU, it's just so hard to describe what TCU did for me. It's beyond being a number two pick. It's life stuff that I got better at. Mental and spiritual things that I needed to work on and confidence and believing in myself. I think this will carry me for the longevity of my career, and TCU enabled me to be vulnerable and be myself and lean into the people around me who have my back no matter what. It's just been an incredible ride and has prepared me for this moment. Like I said, it will prepare me for the rest of my life.
Q. You're one of the few basketball players who wears glasses. Was that tough growing up? You're obviously a role model to a lot of nearsighted kids. And do you have a good optical deal now?
OLIVIA MILES: Yeah, my agent's actually in here. Shout out to her, because she set that up. Kailey [Edwards], my girl. But yeah, it was hard. You get the occasional comments here and there. But because I played basketball, it was cool. It eventually became a part of my brand. I get so many questions, "wear contacts," do this, but it's like, no -- or that, too.
So I just feel like the goggles have become part of my brand and something to be identifiable -- you get what I'm trying to say. Too much talking already. So you get the point.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports