EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Seeking to increase in size, the two-time defending WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks selected former Virginia forward Schuye LaRue and Purdue center Mary Jo Noon in Friday's draft.

	Schuye LaRue played two seasons at Virginia before leaving in 2001.

The 6-foot-3 LaRue averaged 16.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in two seasons with the Cavaliers before leaving school in 2001 to play professionally in Europe.

Drafted in the second round with the 27th overall pick, LaRue was a first-team All-ACC selection in her final collegiate season.

Noon, a 6-5, 220-pounder, averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds in four seasons with the Boilermakers, She was drafted in the third round as the 42nd and final choice.

The Sparks did not have a first-round choice, having traded it last season to the now-defunct Miami Sol in exchange for center Marlies Askamp.

"Schuye LaRue is another athletic body that we've got for our team,'' Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "She can put the ball on the floor, shoot the 3-pointer.

"Mary Jo Noon will give us a big body, the size and girth.''

Following the draft, the Sparks announced the signing of free-agent UW-Green Bay center Chandra Johnson. It was also announced that Askamp won't return and that forward Vedrana Grgin-Fonseca would miss the season because of a knee injury.

Under terms of the league's new collective bargaining agreement signed earlier Friday, center Lisa Leslie and the other four Sparks players with six years of service become restricted free agents. The Sparks can retain the services of the five by matching any offer.

They are also able to protect two players as "core players,'' and they would receive the maximum $85,000 salary.

Leslie is the leading scorer in WNBA history.

The Sparks open training camp Thursday at Loyola Marymount and begin the regular season May 24 at Connecticut.