Marissa Coleman poses for a photo with WNBA President Donna Orender after being selected by the Mystics. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

At the WNBA Draft, the players are escorted to each of their events and obligations by a member of the WNBA staff. Once their name is called by WNBA President Donna Orender, the players are whisked away on a media circuit that includes ESPN interview, chatting with WNBA.com, a number of telephone interviews, a photo shoot, and more. The WNBA staff knows the lay of the land, and make sure that each of the draftees gets to where they need to be.

Neil Johnson was assigned to work with Marissa Coleman for the draft and kept a running diary of the events beginning with the pre-draft events on Wednesday night at the NBA Store and ESPN Zone. Here is an inside look at what draft day is like for one of the draftees.

Wednesday – April 8

5:11 p.m. Marissa Coleman is counting down the hours to one of the biggest moments in her life, the WNBA Draft. For now, the most immediate task is a Q&A and autograph session with media and fans at the NBA Store.

5:14 She remains cool, calm, collected—every bit the sign that she’s ready to take the next step into the WNBA. It’s not until she starts talking that you can sense the excitement, especially tonight when, “It’s going to be like the night before Christmas. I’ll want to go to sleep, but I’m too excited, anxious and nervous about the next day.” She has no answer to which team will select her, which certainly won’t help her sleep any better tonight. There is one dream she’d like to see come true, however, and that’s “getting two Maryland Terps [her and teammate Kristi Toliver] in the first round of the draft just like last year.”

6:05 Her first question! Whom does she admire in the WNBA? “Diana Taurasi. I just love her confidence, swagger, and the passion she puts into every game.”

6:18 Yet to be drafted or sign a contract, and the job begins: autographs for all of the eager fans who have lined the NBA Store. After the autograph session here, Marissa’s heading over to the ESPN Zone for more of the same. Sleep? It’s so overrated.

Thursday – April 9

11:00 a.m. Rookie Transition class—probably not the first thing she thought of years ago when she imagined herself in the WNBA Draft. Nevertheless, the subject is media training, so these skills will be put to good use in a just a few hours.

2:30 p.m. It’s not the paparazzi, but the flashes begin with a group shot of WNBA president Donna Orender and the present 2009 draft class members. Down the road when she looks back on this picture, Marissa won’t have any problem spotting herself as the only person wearing a stylish pair of glasses.

3:00 The crowd quiets, the lights dim and a dramatic montage airs as ESPN begins its draft coverage. If Marissa’s nerves weren’t shaky enough, ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck, the first head coach-general manager in WNBA history, made sure of it when she started the show by calling Coleman the best player in the draft.

3:06 The Atlanta Dream is officially on the clock...tick...tick...tick...

3:11 Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry is selected No. 1 overall…and the tick-tick-tick is starting to sound more like the thump-thump, thump-thump of a heartbeat. Who’s next? What’s going to happen? How much longer?

3:15 The Washington Mystics select…Marissa Coleman! The Maryland state native and soon-to-be University of Maryland alum gets to stay home and play in front of that D.C. crowd and her family! Mom gets a big hug before she makes her way to the stage.

3:17 After an intense and crazy two-minute celebration, the interview circuit begins in the studio with ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo.

3:19 “It’s crazy, I’m still shaking!” But she’s walking just fine on her way to answer fan questions via WNBA.com. It must be all that sleep she got last night: “I’ve been getting over being sick, so I took some Benadryl and was knocked out cold.”

3:21 It looks like Marissa took that media training to heart as she recites her answers to WNBA.com staff, who then type them into the Web site. “I’m very excited to start my career in the area. Over the past few years I’ve gotten to play in front of some great fans at the Comcast Center, and a lot of them said they hoped I would stay home so they could come watch me play. Hopefully they’ll come out, especially since now there’s two Terps [Crystal Langhorne] on the team.”

3:23 The dream comes true! Terrapins teammate Kristi Toliver enters the room after being drafted No. 3 by the Chicago Sky. Back-to-back draft picks…now that’s some teamwork, huh?

3:24 Even though Marissa and Kristi were teammates, that still doesn’t stop them from competing. “Now I can talk some trash ’cause everyone knows that I’m drafted ahead of her.”

3:25 Cameras, microphones and recorders pounce, but she handles it like a pro and Marissa’s words capture the day’s moments perfectly:

“You always hear the rumors about where you’re projected and who wants you, but you never know what’s going to happen on draft day. A team might change their mind at the last minute, but when I heard my name called, I could finally breathe.”

3:44 The whirlwind circuit continues. It’s time for a shoot with NBA Photos. There might be a few she’ll want to frame among those shots...

3:47 Pictures are done just in time to take one of the more important calls of the day from Washington Mystics general manager Angela Taylor and head coach Julie Plank.

4:00 After waiting for a picture with Kristi, Marissa’s Maryland teammate arrives with No. 1 pick Angel McCoughtry for a special photo shoot.

4:23 Always loyal to her roots, Marissa is hanging out and waiting to conduct interviews with the Maryland S.I.D. and the school paper. “The top three picks are all from the Maryland-Virginia-D.C. area, so that speaks volumes to how good basketball is in the metropolitan area.”

4:40 All done! Marissa is reunited with her parents back in the studio. Wow. She can finally catch her breath.

4:57 If it felt too good to be true, a phone call from the Mystics proved that it was. The team has some local media lined up for phone interviews, so it’s time to put her game face back on as she heads out of the studio and back upstairs.

5:31 She’s headed back to the studio to do a live television interview for the Washington D.C. Comcast channel, but not without a WNBA.com interview pit stop.

5:48 And she’s live. It looks like she’s got the hang of this interview thing.

6:05 After a few pictures with family and Carolyn Peck, Marissa’s back to another Rookie Transition class. As the door to the room opens, the smell gives one thing away…food is in there!

It’s a minor win among a day of achieving major lifelong goals and realizing how passion, determination and hard work pays off. She shared the day with family, friends, coaches and teammates, all of whom had a hand in today’s accomplishment. Donning that Mystics jersey now creates an entirely new set of goals to strive for and reach, and Marissa is looking forward to the challenge.