SEATTLE -- Seattle Storm coach Lin Dunn handed tape of Connecticut's Sue Bird to owner Howard Schultz, labeling it a must-see.

	Bird

"I was mesmerized by her talent and the leadership she showed," Schultz said Friday after Seattle chose Bird with the first pick in the WNBA draft.

After watching the film, Schultz called team president Wally Walker.

"I told him she's a female version of John Stockton," Schultz said.

Even before the draft, Bird felt the pressure of being the No. 1 selection.

"There was a lot of hype about the first pick, and a lot of people were saying it was going to be me," she said. "But what if it's not? I'm going to feel like an idiot."

There were no such letdowns. Instead, she was being teased Friday only for her hoarse voice.

Too many interviews?

"That seems to be the common joke around here," said Bird, a 5-foot-9 point guard who led UConn to the national title and a 39-0 record this season. "But it's a combination of allergies and a sore throat."

When Dunn spoke to Bird after her selection, the coach assured her new star that she would get to wear No. 10 on her jersey. That was Bird's number at UConn.

"That was one of her No. 1 questions," Dunn said. "That was the icing on the cake for her. Every player wants their lucky number. It's my lucky number, too. I was born on the 10th. It must be a sign."

In her only previous trip to Seattle, Bird and UConn spoiled the opening of the renovated Hec Edmundson Pavilion at the University of Washington, beating Washington's Huskies 100-54 on Nov. 24, 2000.

"I don't know much, but I've heard about the rain," she said.

Bird's selection marks the second time in the WNBA's six-year history that the top selection played in high school at Christ The King in New York City. The other is Chamique Holdsclaw of Washington.

Bird, The Associated Press Player of the Year, averaged 14.4 points and 3.4 rebounds for UConn this season and led the nation in free-throw shooting at 89.2 percent.

She scored 1,378 career points and had 585 assists, including a career-best 231 this season.

She likely will be a starter right away.

The Storm are desperate for a perimeter scorer. They shot 37.8 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from 3-point range last season, and finished last place in the league with three other teams at 10-22.

Australian center Lauren Jackson was the No. 1 pick of the 2001 draft by Seattle.