Telling stories around the biggest Women’s Final Four yet — Must-click women’s basketball links — Conversation on the SEC’s future
The IX: Basketball Wednesday with Howard Megdal, Apr. 5, 2023
I’ll be honest, friends: I knew what was happening this weekend in Dallas was big. I don’t think I could have known, until we saw the full measure of the audience, just how much we’ll look back on the 2023 Women’s Final Four as a touchstone moment in women’s sports.
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The event is always a gathering of our women’s basketball world. There’s an insular quality to that, and so it was remarkable how often I’d feel that experience pierced by the messages I was getting from friends, family — not just “Who is this Caitlin Clark?” but next-level questions, like how her game translates or what kind of defense is LSU running to stop her.
So I’m going to leave you all with the 24 stories our staff at The Next wrote this weekend. Podcasts, too, video shorts, stories of the WBL — many of its stars were present, too — future information gathering and relationship building. You, who subscribe to us at The Next, make this possible.
You, who subscribe at The IX, know all about the story behind Alicia Berber, who attended the women’s Final Four alongside Cheryl Miller. That this is a bigger story than simply women’s basketball is clear to all of us.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude — for all of you, for my incredible staff, for the sheer, inarguable reality that women’s basketball’s footprint in our society is finally beginning to approach the great richness the sport has always deserved.
Please enjoy our 24 stories. Listen to our latest podcast below. And if you have people in your life, like I do, who are hooked and ready to engage with our great game every day, urge them to sign up for our mailing list, tell them to subscribe.
I’m so excited to be on this ride with all of you. And it’s just getting started.
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Five at The IX: Gabriella Lewis and the future of the SEC
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| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Addie Parker, @addie_parker, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
Written by Howard Megdal
Howard is the founder of The Next and editor-in-chief.
