While Sarah Strong the Front Court in South Carolina dominated during the victory of Uconn’s National Championship, saved up rebounds, protected the edge and scored everywhere on the field, it was easy to imagine that she also did this at the next level. WNBA leaders had to drool over the idea of drawing up the next Huskies star.
But they will have to wait another three years. According to the collective employment contract, which runs at the end of the 2025 season, the American players are eligible to be drawn up after completing four years of lectures. The only exception is that players can explain after their junior seasons if they turn 22 during the calendar year of the WNBA concept. Because Strong has a February birthday, that is not an option.
As a basketball for women, players have more choices in shaping their career, whether at the university through the transfer portal or professional with new competitions. However, this is a decision that remains outside their control.
“I definitely think we should have the option,” said USC star Juju Watkins on the podcast “Good game with Sarah Spain”. “There has just been such a growth in college basketball, where it is, why would you want to leave? Because you have that experience and your brand also builds at the university. I would say we should definitely have the option, but I think the university is a way to prepare us for the pros. … It is a sensitive subject, but I am for it.”
Although a change to declare players early is unlikely, there are currently enough under -class seductive pro -prospects, led by Strong. Watkins, who has two remaining years of suitability, would be a no-brainer lottery choice, even with a torn ACL who would keep her offside for this coming Wnba season. Madison Booker from Texas has a WNBA body and pull-up game, and her fellow SEC players Ashlyn Watkins (South Carolina) and Talaysia Cooper (Tennessee) can also be pro-ready.
There is a world where Juju Watkins decides to sit outside in the coming season, to use both of her last years of suitability and enters the WNBA design of 2028 with Sarah Strong.
If you were a GM with the number 1 general choice, who would you choose? pic.twitter.com/auixhkz3OC
– I talk about hoops
(@trendyhoopstars) April 11, 2025
The idea of the age limit has benefited most parties in the past, even if it reduced the individual players’ office. The Wnba is already the most difficult competition in the world to make and earn a second contract, and it is not aimed at the current Pool Pool to add more competitors for the limited schedules.
Until recently, player experience was better at the university than in the WNBA. It was often not logical for athletes to sacrifice the ability to obtain a university degree to become a preventive member of a competition that did not pay so well. Certain players nevertheless used the opportunity to go after three seasons, including no. 1 Picks Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young. Satou Sabally, the number 2 pick in 2020, mentioned finances as the reason she left Oregon, because she was at the university before athletes could earn money.
Athletes born abroad do not have to go with the same age -related limitations as their American counterparts. Players born outside the US can explain for the design of the year that they turn 20, provided that they do not go to university in the NCAA system, presumably as a way to encourage talent around the world to play in the WNBA. Those concessions were never made for American players, who are already growing up that dream of playing in the competition.
Now the WNBA has better accommodations, more lucrative salaries and a higher profile, but university sports also offer money from collectives and the opportunity to take advantage of zero deals. Athletes no longer miss their earning potential by being refused early access to the professional ranks.
The competition also benefits from the age limit. In addition to rookies that are physically suitable for the Pro Game, the NCAA is a fantastic marketing tool for the WNBA. Players come in the competition with four years of national exposure and Oodles of name recognition. Although casual NBA fans have difficulty identifying one-and-dones, most WNBA fans are very familiar with people like Paige Bueckers, Anesah Morrow and Hailey from Lith before they even play their first professional game.
As a result, although a new SME is being negotiated, then do not expect that the age limit is a point of discussion.
“It is mentioned; I don’t think it’s a high priority,” said Seattle Storm Guard Lexie Brown last month on “The Ringer Wnba Show”. “On 18 or 19 years old as a young woman without a diploma to play a sport with non -gegaranded contracts, it is a kind of recipe for a disaster.”
There is a reasonable discussion about whether Bueckers would be the number 1 if every player at the University is eligible this season. The general game of Strong, combined with her childhood, in a competition that is still going through the mail, makes her a seductive selection. Watkins’ wonderful skill and star power also brought her to that hypothetical conversation.
For now this exercise remains theoretical. College Basketball is still a more popular product, and the WNBA can afford to stay exclusive and close its doors for younger players with all the talent that already exists in its ranks. The subset of players who can make the leap realistic early is limited – too small to rewrite a whole series of rules.
(Photos by Madison Booker and Sarah Strong: Alex Slitz / Getty Images, Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)