Is this the last, best season of women’s college basketball?

Basketball Wednesday

Presented by The BIG EAST Conference

We have spoken before in this space about the way the start of the college season offers untold delights for those of us who love the sport of basketball. But as I begin to cover another collegiate campaign, it’s hard not to wonder whether this is also the end of an era which has powered the rise of the sport like few others.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen women’s college basketball deliver precipitating events and figures that have transformed the women’s college basketball landscape. The WNBA has in many ways maximized what it means for a figure like Caitlin Clark to reach the pros — no, we won’t be re-litigating that today, I wrote a whole book about this already — but that opportunity only came because Clark turned into must-see viewing during her four seasons at Iowa.

Similarly, though not in the same level of growth, we saw Paige Bueckers enter the WNBA in 2025 after a long college career. I was recently driving my daughter and her friends home and one of the teens in the backseat, amid a group that is not tuned into the sports scene, mentioned that she knew who Clark was. “And of course Paige Bueckers”, she added, which I found interesting. Not Angel Reese or Breanna Stewart or A’ja Wilson.

But as we’ve discussed, Bueckers’ decision to enter the WNBA Draft in 2025 was not matched by, well, anyone else who faced that decision. Sure, players like Olivia Miles and Ta’Niya Latson transferred, while Lauren Betts simply returned to UCLA, but the amount of talent in the NCAA game this year is a tribute to both the growing pipeline adding more precocious freshmen than ever along with a quirk of the WNBA landscape that led virtually everyone to place their bets on the 2026 WNBA Draft instead.

As long as the WNBA and WNBPA find the common ground to reach an agreement — and as I told you last week, the only thing that mattered was whether or not both sides agreed to an extension, which happened — the 2026 draft promises to be one of the deepest in memory.

But what is still unknown within the parameters of a new agreement is whether we’ll see the WNBA Draft rules continue as-is. The status quo wouldn’t allow for as many decisions for players, but a return to the pre-COVID state of mostly seniors and older juniors becoming draft-eligible. No extra COVID seasons anymore, and players sticking around for years, building a following.

But both sides, particularly the league, could find it far more beneficial to lift the “graduate or turn 22 in the calendar year of the draft” rule to bring stars into the WNBA sooner. Watching Louisville-UConn, it was impossible to ignore that yes, Azzi Fudd is WNBA-ready now, and would have been a strong performer this past season, but so is Sarah Strong, just minutes into her sophomore season.

And the depth? Well, I’d have been all over Laura Ziegler if I were a WNBA team in last year’s draft after the career she had at St. Joseph’s, but there’s a reason she wasn’t selected — she didn’t declare. Instead she took a final season transfer to Louisville, and the 23-year-old was a monster for Jeff Walz and the Cardinals in the opener. I’d like to think the WNBA front offices no longer operate in a space that pretends if you don’t play for a Power 5 conference, you’re not star material — Jonquel Jones is one of many who’d like a word if you think this — but playing for Walz is going to elevate her draft stock considerably. Just remember I told you before this happens.

Up and down the rosters, you’re going to see this all season long. Out-of-control transfer rules have eliminated continuity for many programs, but the overall talent is at high tide. Rule changes, though, could quickly change how long we see collegiate players elevate the game at this level as soon as a new agreement is reached. Of course, the WNBPA will have good reasons not to agree to such a rule, to protect the jobs of its current members. It will be fascinating to see which factions of the PA were prioritized in any agreement. Some of these decisions are zero-sum.

And it is worth considering as well how many of the current administration’s policies will keep future basketball stars from coming to play here in the United States.

Don’t mistake this for arguing against transfer rules, though for reasons of protecting players as well as college programs, some ground rules would be hugely beneficial. Even a change in eligibility for the WNBA Draft will simply mean more of the burden for building the audience around new players will fall to the league itself, but this period of growth has put the WNBA in a position to do so.

What it does mean, though, is that we might be living through, right now, the last college basketball season with such a specific confluence of events, rules and deadlines that ensured this much of the women’s basketball talent pool will be playing at colleges and universities around the country this season. Latson alone, getting an extra season at Dawn Staley WNBA Finishing School, will be appointment viewing, and I don’t think they’re even the favorite to win it all. (That would be UConn or UCLA.)

In other words, always savor it. I plan to, and that won’t change. But recognize, too, that we might be at collegiate high tide.

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This week in women’s basketball

All of our conference previews are live at The IX Basketball! Bookmark.

Here’s how Skye Belker spent her summer vacation.

Penn State is going to be fascinating this season.

Marisa Ingemi on Cal? You bet!

Talia Goodman continues to do the good work.

Mount St. Mary’s is building something special in women’s and men’s basketball.

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