Geno Auriemma believes a change in how women’s college basketball conducts itself could prove to be detrimental to the progress women’s basketball has made thus far.
As it stands, players can be selected in the WNBA draft if they are within three months of graduating, have graduated, or in the calendar year in which they turn 22 years old. For example, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was 22 years old when she was drafted and graduated from the University of Iowa, though she was unable to attend her graduation ceremony because of the WNBA season.
Because of the age requirement coupled with the other stipulations, many players often decide to stay in college for all four years before electing to declare for the draft. And if Auriemma were to have his way, the rules would remain the same.
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During an appearance on ESPN Radio’s ‘UnSportsmanLike,’ UConn’s head coach made it clear where he stood while also giving a proper warning about what could happen if women’s college basketball instituted a “one-and-done” rule, similar to what is happening in men’s basketball.
“It depends whether you want the game to grow or you want to kill it,” Auriemma said in April 2024 regarding a potential rule change, per ESPN. “If you want to kill it, then let the kids leave after freshman year. On the men’s side, it’s become transactional. Everybody’s a free agent. Everybody’s a mercenary.
“It’s not the kid’s fault. … To me, what helped the women’s game grow is the people in Iowa got to grow up with Caitlin Clark. The people of Connecticut got to grow up with all of my great players. There’s something to be said for that.”
Geno Auriemma believes his success as UConn’s head coach comes with a price (
Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images)
Though there have been some exceptions to the women’s college basketball’s rules, those often are far and few in-between. With the advent of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, playing professionally is not the only way for athletes to earn a living as many use their influence to garner lucrative deals.
Still, Auriemma believes that if a “one-and-done” rule is instituted, it could negatively impact the women’s college basketball landscape. “I don’t know that our game can continue to move forward if, all of a sudden, our guys are gone,” the 70-year-old continued.
“So I like the rule, and the players decided the rule. So if they change the rule, God bless ’em, but I think it’ll ruin the game.” Currently, the “one-and-done” rule has been in place in the NBA since 2005, with the rule first taking place before the 2006 NBA Draft.
The rule stipulates that a player looking to be drafted must either be or turn 19 during the year of the draft and must have completed at least one year of college before they are considered eligible to be selected. Before the rule was put in place, some all-time NBA greats were drafted straight out of high school.
Those include LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Moses Malone.
With the rule in place, players like Zion Williamson, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose and others made their names as exceptional “one-and-done” talents, showing how an extra year of development could be beneficial to players. Generally speaking, spending more time in college is helpful in developing skills but there are instances where a player leaves college after a single season when it is clear more development time was needed.
Bronny James, the son of James, left USC after one lackluster season and though he was a raw talent, it was clear the younger James needed more time in college to develop. Selected with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, James is now shuttling between the South Bay Lakers in the G-League and the Los Angeles Lakers.
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