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Stanford's Cameron Brink plans to forgo 2023 WNBA draft – JWS – Just Women's Sports
Stanford women’s basketball star Cameron Brink is eligible for the 2023 WNBA Draft, but she plans to return for her senior season with the Cardinal, she said Tuesday.
The WNBA requires U.S. players to turn 22 years old in the calendar year of the draft. Brink, who was born on Dec. 31, 2001, makes the cut for the 2023 draft by a single day.
But as she enters her junior season, she is in no rush to leave her college years behind her, she told reporter Alex Simon of the Mercury News.
“It’s fun, college is fun,” she said. “Why not stay?”
One of the more fascinating 2023 WNBA Draft questions was if Cameron Brink, who is eligible to enter *by a single day* as a New Year's Eve baby, would declare.
But Brink tells me she fully expects to stay for her senior season and play at Stanford at 2023-24. Here's her quote: pic.twitter.com/T0RxEy7clH
The 6-foot-4 forward from Beaverton, Ore., helped Stanford win the NCAA championship as a freshman.
The Cardinal made a repeat run to the Final Four in her sophomore season but fell to UConn. Brink, though, stepped up her game, leading the team with 13.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game as a sophomore.
The 2022 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year excelled on that end of the floor, including six blocks in the team’s Elite Eight win over Texas. She ranked sixth in the NCAA with 91 blocks for the season.
The Cardinal will look to her as an anchor again this season — and likely for the next one, too, as she continues to savor her experience at Stanford.
“I think I want to stay just because I want to just continue to be a kid,” she said. “Finish my degree in four years, not rush myself.”
Brink boasts more than 208,000 Instagram followers, a valuable commodity in the new NIL era of college sports. She has posted ads for Netflix, Urban Outfitters and other brands on her account, and the sponsorship opportunities could contribute to her decision to stay put.
Remaining at Stanford for the 2023-24 season would set Brink up to join the already crowded 2024 WNBA draft class, which looks set to include UConn’s Paige Bueckers (who also stated her intent to return for her senior season), Caitlin Clark, Hailey Van Lith, Angel Reese and Diamond Johnson.
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