Next week's WNBA draft will carry an unmistakably Oregon feel.

Four players with ties to the state -- Oregon State center Marie Gulich, Oregon guard Lexi Bando and Tennessee's center-forward combo of Mercedes Russell and Jaime Nared -- are likely to be selected during the April 12 draft in New York, with Gulich becoming one of the most intriguing prospects, ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said Friday.

"Talking with coaches it seems like she is the prospect whose stock rose more than anyone throughout at least the latter part of the NCAA Tournament," Lobo said. "People are really intrigued by her, how hard she works, great size, her ability to face the basket, the fadeaway on her shot, her ability to score on like-sized players."

Before the NCAA Tournament, the 6-foot-5 senior from Germany was considered a mid-to-late second-round pick, Lobo said. After OSU's run to the Elite Eight, Gulich has played her way into the conversation as a late first-rounder.

Gulich carried a low profile nationally her first three years before exploding for one of the country's most efficient seasons as a senior, scoring 17.5 points per game on 65.2 percent shooting while grabbing 9.2 rebounds per game and leading the Pac-12 with 91 blocks.

"She's one of the players who really caught a lot of fans' attention but also really, really improved herself in the latter part of their season in terms of her draft position," Lobo said.

Gulich had 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks to beat Tennessee in the tournament's second round as OSU became the first tournament opponent in 58 games to knock off the Lady Volunteers in Knoxville.

On the other side of the matchup the 6-foot-6 Russell, who left Springfield High School rated as the nation's top recruit by several services, had 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Rather than turn pro after her junior season, she returned the Knoxville and averaged 15.3 points on 58.3 percent shooting as well as 9.2 rebounds as a senior, falling just short of the double-double she hoped to average but still garnering her WBCA honorable mention All-America and all-SEC second-team honors.

The WNBA is a "faster game," said LaChina Robinson, another ESPN analyst, and that would appear to favor a player such as Gulich, who ran the floor extremely well for a larger player, over Russell, who sat out the 2014-15 season following surgeries on both of her feet.

"Something that's always in the back of people's minds is her health, how are her feet?" Robinson said. "Sometimes she doesn't look as mobile getting up and down the floor. ... That could be a little bit of a concern. But if she can be stronger and play lower to the ground, I mean she's got tremendous upside, as does Nared."

Gulich's improvement has also perhaps hurt Russell's draft stock among centers, Robinson said, but she complimented her shooting touch, passing ability and understanding of the game.

"She started to learn how to fight for position inside," Robinson said. "She's got to continue that. I think we've got to see a different level of toughness and even desire from Mercedes. I think there's another level that she has not reached with her motor, with her just overall consistency and effort."

This season the 6-foot-2 Nared, a former all-state Westview High School star, scored a team-high 16.7 points this season, the eight-highest scoring average in Vols history, en route to first-team all-SEC honors as chosen by the league's coaches. Robinson believed she would be selected before Russell.

"At 6-2, she's got versatility, obviously can play multiple positions, I think that's what really makes her attractive," Robinson said. "I think she sees plays ahead of time. She's always a play ahead. She can rebound, her work ethic, I thought there were moments where she showed great leadership, where she could have folded when she could have shown frustration with a younger team. Obviously she can shoot it and she's tough."

Like Gulich, the 5-foot-9 Bando has had little time to transition from the end of a collegiate career in the Elite Eight and the beginning of her professional life.

Bando, who signed with Oregon out of Eugene's Willamette High School, likened the WNBA's pre-draft process -- which lasts mere weeks instead of the months of run-up to the NBA and NFL's drafts -- to being recruited again. The main difference, of course, being that this time she will have no say in her landing spot. Bando has been told she is considered a third-round pick but has also plotted her options to play overseas.

"It's a stressful time," she said. "It's kind of a lot to wrap your head around because it comes right away."

Bando will sign with an agent soon, and in the interim has been working out in Eugene while finishing her degree. Her 45.7 career three-point percentage ranks 11th all-time among Division I women, and tops among UO and Pac-12 women.

The draft's first round will be broadcast by ESPN2 beginning at 4 p.m. PT. ESPNU will then carry the second and third rounds.

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif