It hasn’t taken long for Mercury center DeWanna Bonner to become the center of attention as far as rookies go. In WNBA.com’s first edition of “Rookie Rankings”, the site lists Bonner the top first-year player in the league.

Writes the Web site’s Mark Bodenrader, “Raise your hand if you had Bonner getting off to the best start of all rookies in 2009. Yeah, I didn't think so.”

Bodenrader goes on to say that while nobody had doubts that Bonner would someday be a player who could more than hold her own in the league, she was considered by many to be somewhat of a work in progress.

Mercury General Manager Ann Meyers Drysdale said she and the front office didn’t have any doubts that Bonner would be a player that could immediately step in and make an impact for the team.

“Her competitiveness comes natural and she never gives up on plays,” Meyers Drysdale said. “We knew with her we had a diamond in the rough.”

And while Meyers Drysdale has been pleased with Bonner’s progression during the first six games of the season, she still sees even more potential out of the rising star.

“She makes mistakes in terms of passing angles and defensive angles but she’s only going to get better and I think the players around her will certainly help to make her better. Any rookie that comes into the WNBA is somebody who’s tough but needs to also be patient enough to understand that it’s a learning process to play in this league.”

As far as whether or not Bonner stops to recognize such praise as the one given this week by WNBA.com, the rookie out of Auburn told PhoenixMercury.com it’s pretty difficult not to.

“To me it really is all about just helping this team win, but you can’t help but hear about things like that,” Bonner said of the first-place ranking. “You’ve got friends texting you and you’re always going to hear about being recognized like that. It really is an honor though to be mentioned with all those other great players out there in my rookie class.”

Bonner didn’t take long to attract attention, contributing a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds against San Antonio in her WNBA debut. Her best outing arguably came against Minnesota on Wednesday where the rook pitched in 21 points and 10 rebounds in a victory over the Lynx. Bonner said, however, that no matter how well she plays or how often she’s recognized, there is a zero chance Mercury fans will ever see her become complacent.

“I like to think of myself as a mature player and have learned I just need to use recognition as motivation,” Bonner said. “Being recognized like that means there are other rookies out there trying to get to the same spot and it’s up to me to stay exactly where I am.”

But whether she likes the attention or not, Bonner’s teammates believe there may still be more accolades on the way.

“She’s been playing well and that’s what it’s about on this team,” Diana Taurasi said. “Whether it’s the beginning, middle or end of the game we need players out there contributing on the court. We need everybody out there doing something positive because that’s what’s going to win us games.”

Cappie Pondexter agreed, “She’s terrific, definitely a spark off the bench. Offensively she’s ahead of most rookies that come into this league and she has been everything we’ve needed and more. For players like Diana and I the key is not to get on her too hard. We need to stay positive and realize that rookies are going to go through some up stages and some down stages.”

So far for Bonner, it appears those down stages will be much fewer and farther between.