The lads had Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Zion Williamson, and Anthony Davis. The ladies ought to have had Paige Bueckers then, and JuJu Watkins now. However, in accordance with the foundations, they will’t.
As a result of WNBA’s collective bargaining settlement, American gamers must be 22 earlier than they will declare for the draft, have earned their diploma, or have been out of highschool for 4 years. Worldwide gamers solely must be 20. The foundations round this haven’t modified for the reason that league launched in 1997. So in contrast to the NBA, the W is lacking out on a possible draft that might have included Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Bueckers, and Watkins if they’d comparable guidelines to the NBA.
Final week, Watkins — USC’s homegrown 6’2” freshman — dropped 51 on Stanford, at Stanford.
In her first season, Watkins has already scored at the very least 30 factors seven instances as she’s averaging 27.3 factors, 6.9 rebounds, and three.4 assists a sport whereas capturing 43 p.c from the sector and 35.3 p.c from three. She was additionally just lately the quilt athlete for SLAM Journal.
“I think coming into [my] freshman season, I didn’t really have too many expectations for myself,” she told the publication. “I think just getting my feet wet, I guess as people would say. But now that I’m finally in it, I’m setting more goals for myself and expect more for myself. But honestly, at the end of the day, [it’s] just having fun.”
Earlier than accidents performed a significant half in her profession, Bueckers made a huge splash at UConn by being the primary freshman to win nationwide participant of the 12 months on the ladies’s facet. Due to it, the questions on players declaring early in the women’s game became a conversation.
“Why would women have a choice? Half the battle is having the choice to do it then you go on and make the best decision,” Diana Taurasi told the Arizona Republic at the time. “The next step is to have that option. Will kids do it? Probably not, but you should have that option. If you’re the best at your profession, you should be able to keep getting better.”
“The men are dealing with their own issues in terms of draft eligibility. They’re trying to get rid of the one-and-done,” added Sue Bird. “It’s a fluid thing. That will be the case for us. It did come up in the last CBA negotiations, it was just not the priority in the moment. I think players should have a choice, always. What’s interesting is the whole name and likeness thing as it pertains to college (and perhaps staying in school longer).”
Regardless of the fast rise in attendance and viewership for ladies’s school basketball and the WNBA, and with out falling into the rabbit gap concerning the sum of money a participant could make in school in distinction to the professionals, there’s nonetheless a ready course of that gamers should undergo earlier than they will enter a extremely aggressive league that has solely 144 roster spots. Gamers like Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins might be high draft picks after their senior 12 months in the identical manner they might have been if they might have declared as freshmen.
However till then, the WNBA and followers have to attend till a few of school basketball’s finest expertise can take the courtroom with the professionals. And for all of the followers who’re desirous about studying extra about Watkins, USC faces Arizona on ESPN2 the day after the Tremendous Bowl. You would possibly need to tune in, Watkins has scored 80 factors in her final two video games.
