Feb. 14, 2007
2007 NPF Draft Press Release in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern seniors Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) and Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) have been drafted by the New England Riptide of National Professional Fastpitch in the league's senior draft held February 14.
Both Wildcats were selected in the first round, with Canney earning the second-overall selection and Cooper being picked in the fourth-overall position. Canney was the first pitcher taken in the draft, while Cooper was the second position player. Tennessee's Lindsay Schutzler was made the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Bandits.
For the complete results from all four rounds of the 2007 NPF Draft, click on the draft release .pdf at the top of this page.
Canney and Cooper are the third and fourth Wildcats to ever be selected in the draft, and both are the highest picks in NU history. Courtnay Foster was chosen in 2006 (she elected not to play in the league), while Carri Leto was picked in 2004 to become Northwestern's first-ever female student-athlete to be drafted by a professional franchise in any sport.
Leto, a three-time NPF All-Star and the 2006 NPF Defensive Player of the Year, has signed a free agent contract with the Riptide, and will be reunited with her former NU teammates Canney and Cooper this summer. She previously played two seasons with the N.Y./N.J. Juggernaut -- winning the league championship in 2004 -- before playing last season with the Philadelphia Force.
The Riptide are coached by longtime Northwestern mentor and 1994 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame inductee Sharon J. Drysdale.
Canney was a second-team NFCA All-America selection in 2006 and the Big Ten's Pitcher of the Year. Cooper is a two-time NFCA All-American and is the two-time defending Big Ten Player of the Year.
Seniors in college do not declare for the draft, but are eligible to be selected by a franchise. That franchise then holds the rights to the player until she has completed her collegiate eligibility, at which point she is able to sign with the team and compete for an available roster spot.