When Sarah Strong dominated the frontcourt in South Carolina during the victory in the Uconn National Championship, she absorbed rebounds, protected the edge and scored from everywhere on the pitch, it was easy to imagine that she was doing so on the next level. WNBA executives had to drool over the idea of designing another star Huskies.
But they will have to wait another three years. According to an agreement on collective bargaining, which expires at the end of the 2025 season, American players are eligible to be eligible after the four years of college. The only exception is that players can declare after their junior periods if they reach WNBA during the calendar year. Since Strong has a February birthday, it will not be a possibility.
As female basketball booms, players have more options to shape their career, be it at university through a transmission portal or professionally with new leagues. However, this is one decision that remains outside their control.
“I certainly think we should have the opportunity,” said USC Juju Watkins on the podcast “Good game with Sarah Spain”. “There has just been such a growth of basketball at university, where it is like, why would you like to leave? Because you are able to have the experience and build your brand here also at university.
Although the change that allows players to declare soon is unlikely, enough subdagers are so tempting for prospects that are strong. Watkins, which has two remaining years of competence, would be a lottery selection without a nickname, namely an IS torn ACL that would keep it on its upcoming WNBA season. Madison Booker of Texas has a WNBA body and Pull-up and her colleagues Sec Ashlyn Watkins (South Carolina) and Talaysia Cooper (Tennessee) can also be prepared.
There is a world in which Juju Watkins decides to sit over the upcoming season, with its last years of competence and enter the 2028 WNBA, which contains Sarah Strong.
If you were GM with total selection No. 1, who would you choose? pic.twitter.com/auixhkz3oc
– I’m talking about hoops 🏀 (@trendyhoopstars) April 11, 2025
The idea of the age limit has historically benefited most of the parties, even though it reduced the individual player agency. WNBA is already the toughest league in the world to enter into and earn a second contract, and does not get rid of the current pool of players to add other competitors for limited list spots.
Until recently, the experience of university players was better than in WNBA. For athletes, there was often no point in sacrificing the ability to win a university degree to prevent the league that did not pay so well. Nevertheless, some players took the opportunity to go after three seasons, including No. 1 selection Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young. Satou Sably, Selection No. 2 in 2020, quoted the finances as the reason why Oregon left soon because she was in college before athletes could make money.
Athletes born abroad do not have to deal with the same limitations related to age as their American counterparts. Players born outside the US can declare themselves as a proposal of the year when it happens for 20 years, provided they do not attend a college in the NCAA system, probably as a way to motivate talent around the world to play in WNBA. These concessions have never been created for American players who are already growing up and dreams of playing in the league.
Now WNBA has better accommodation, lucrative salaries and higher profile, but university sports also offer money from collectives and the ability to benefit from zero shops. Athletes are no longer missing on their earnings potential by denied their early entry to professional ranks.
The league also benefits from the age border. In addition to the fact that newcomers are physically more suitable for the game, NCAA is a fantastic marketing tool for WNBA. Players come to the league with four years of national exhibitions and oodles recognition of names. Although the occasional NBA fans are trying to identify one and Done, most WNBA fans are familiar with as Paige Bueckers, Aneesah Morrow and Hailey van Lith before they even play their first professional game.
As a result, even if it is a new CBA, do not expect the age limit to the point of dispute.
“It was mentioned; I don’t think it’s a high priority,” Seattle Storm Guard Lexie Brown said last month. “Going to the world at the age of 18, 19 as a young woman without a degree to play sport with non -guaranth contracts, it is a kind of recipe for a disaster.”
There is a reasonable discussion of whether Bueckers would be selected No. 1 if every player in college was eligible this season. The overall game, combined with youth, in the league, which still goes through mail, makes it an exciting choice. Watkins’s amazing skill and starry power also into this hypothetical conversation.
Meanwhile, this exercise remains theoretical. University basketball is an increasingly popular product, and WNBA can afford to remain exclusive and close your doors to younger players with all talents that already exist in its ranks. The subgroup of players who could realistically make a jump early is limited – too small to rewrite the entire set of rules.
(Photos Madison Booker and Sarah Strong: Alex SLITZ / Getty Images, Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)
