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Caitlin Clark can’t enter the WNBA Draft? Why Iowa could be home … – The Athletic
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Caitlin Clark has dazzled on the court with record-setting performances and captured national attention as the star of March Madness. She led the Hawkeyes in Sunday’s national championship game against LSU with 30 points in a 102-85 point loss.
It’s usually at this point of a player’s college career arc we ask: What’s next? Where’s she going next year? The good news for college basketball fans is that the answer to those questions for Clark are: nothing new and nowhere.
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Though the NBA has had changing rules and debate over its eligibility requirements, the WNBA’s have been pretty stagnant. The check boxes to enter the WNBA Draft: A player must be 22 years old during the year of the draft, have graduated or will graduate within three months of the draft from a four-year university, or have gone to a four-year university where her original class would have graduated or will graduate within three months of the draft.
Clark is a true junior and turned 21 in January. She won’t be eligible until 2024, when she completes her fourth year. And even then, she may not be done at Iowa.
She’s previously expressed interest in using her COVID-19 fifth year of eligibility, which was granted to NCAA athletes who were affected by the pandemic, for the 2024-25 season.
Read more: Iowa-LSU national championship game sets new viewership record
“I probably will have to make a decision on that sometime next year,” she said in February on “The Dan Patrick Show.” “I really have no clue what I’m going to do, stay for an extra year or leave after next year.”
South Carolina star Aliyah Boston, last year’s national player of the year, is the presumptive No. 1 pick in the draft on April 10. She declared Saturday, a day after the Gamecocks were eliminated from the Final Four, but she could have chosen to come back for another year because of the COVID-19 allowance.
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There have been few women’s players who have left college early to join the WNBA. Jackie Young (Notre Dame), Satou Sabally (Oregon), Jewell Loyd (Notre Dame) and Amanda Zahui B. (Minnesota) are among the rare ones who left college with eligibility.
There are many factors. The WNBA’s limited roster spots won’t be an issue for a player like Clark or Boston, the type of players teams would draft and build around. But for even exceptionally talented college players, WNBA longevity is a factor. With only 12 WNBA teams and 12 roster spots, being a first-round draft pick is no guarantee a player will stick in the league. Usually there are even fewer than 144 roster spots during the WNBA season, however, because of how teams balance salary caps. The No. 8 pick last year, Mya Hollingshed out of Colorado, for example, was waived before the Aces’ season opener. Without a developmental league, players who are more of a project are often let go.
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It’s well-known the No. 1 draft picks in the WNBA and the NBA will receive far different salaries, too. (The base rookie salary in the WNBA is around $72,000 for the top four picks. The top four NBA picks’ salaries in Year 1 are between about $6.2 million and $9.6 million.) Many W players use their offseasons to play overseas to supplement their incomes, but more players are reconsidering this idea and valuing their time at home and offseason recovery.
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NIL’s impact on women’s college basketball players may mean no more overseas for many pros
For many players like Clark or Boston, their popularity in the sport will transcend their local college markets and follow them to their eventual WNBA landing spots. But for other players, NIL deals — and the opportunity to obtain endorsements — can be far greater in college, which can become a consideration when deciding whether to go pro or stay in school.
As WNBA players argue for improved travel accommodations, many have noted how in college, they regularly had chartered flights and sometimes even better facilities and support resources.
Read more: Women’s basketball deserves better than lousy officiating and paternalistic discourse
In the 2020 collective bargaining agreement, the WNBPA addressed several important issues, focusing on increased salaries, free agency changes and improved travel conditions. Age limits weren’t a central part of discussions.
The age requirement could be revisited with another CBA agreement in 2025.
(Photo of Caitlin Clark: Tyler Schank / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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Shannon Ryan is The Athletic’s women’s basketball managing editor. She spent the previous 13 years as a college sports reporter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune, primarily covering college basketball and football. She began her journalism career covering the NFL and college sports for The Philadelphia Inquirer.