The 2024 WNBA draft is bittersweet. While college superstars like Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and Kamilla Cardoso committed to their respective teams, it is the left-behind NCAA coaches who have to then rebuild the teams once again. Unlike the NBA, the WNBA has different eligibility rules, giving more time to the college coaches to build their roster for a longer period. Having lost two of their mainstay players, Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards in this year’s draft, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma was asked about his perspective on the difference in eligibility rules in the two leagues.

Auriemma was present at ECM UN Sports ESPN when he was asked the lingering question on Thursday. “Well, it depends whether you want the game to grow or whether you want to kill it. If you want to kill it, then let the kids leave after freshman year. Which is like on the men’s side, it’s become transactional. Okay, everybody’s a free agent. Everybody’s a mercenary. It’s not the kid’s fault,” Auriemma stated.

With respect to age, while the NBA requires the draftees to be at least 19 years old in the calendar year of the draft and be one year removed from the graduation of his high school class, the WNBA’s age limit is 22. Auriemma mentioned how such a rule has been helping the women’s game.

“To me, what helped the women’s game grow is the people in Iowa got to grow up with Caitlin Clark. The people in Connecticut got to grow up with all my great players. There’s something to be said for that. You know when players stay with their team long enough to build a brand,” the 70-year-old stated.

Consider these stats:

• The 22-year-old has headlined women’s basketball for a couple of years. It was due to her presence that fans flocked to the arenas, selling record tickets. While the men’s championship game (UConn vs Purdue) had 14.82 million viewers, as per Nielsen, the women’s NCAA final (South Carolina vs Iowa) had 18.7 million viewers.This may be attributed to the fact that the girls are able to build a connection with their universities and cities, becoming more of a revered figure, but salary-wise are far behind.

  Interesting fact: 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama, who was the first overall pick in 2023, made $10,132,300 in his rookie season. On the other hand, 2023 first overall draft pick, 22-year-old Caitlin Clark’s salary—the greatest scorer in the NCAA history, considering both men’s and women’s categories—in her rookie season will be just over $76,000.

• On the contrary, what was deemed a top talent, then 19-year-old Zion Williamson’s career (the first overall draft pick by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019) has only gone one way, downhill. In the 2022-23 season, Williamson appeared in 29 games (averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 4.6 assists). In the 2022-23 season, Stephen A. Smith even mocked his attitude and lack of preparedness toward the sport: “While LeBron James had dropped 30 in three quarters… dominated… in peak physical condition... Zion Williamson, who is more than 15 years younger but 40 pounds heavier, went to the free throw line… ladies and gentlemen, I saw a belly.”
• Exception: Yao Ming is the oldest NBA top draft pick in the millennium at 22 years old (2002). Before committing to the Houston Rockets, he had played the Chinese Basketball Association for five years. In his NBA career, he took the Rockets to the NBA playoffs four times, winning their first playoff series victory since 1997 in the 2009 postseason.

“I don’t know that our game can continue to move forward if all of a sudden our guys are gone, and then we never hear from them again because they’re playing during the summer and they’re not on OUR team anymore… So I like the rule, and if they change the rule, God bless them but I think it will ruin the game,” Auriemma explained.

But the eligibility rules for the NBA haven’t always been what they are right now. In fact, they also followed the four-year college eligibility rule. But it all changed in 1971 because of Spencer Haywood.

Haywood v. NBA supreme court case

He joined the ABA (NBA’s competitor at the time) after his sophomore year in college due to the league providing a hardship exemption. He burst onto the scene and became one of the best players in his rookie year. Then, he decided to move to the NBA.

However, the NBA protested as it was still only three years since he graduated from high school, so he could not be drafted until it was four years. There was a lot of back-and-forth and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court during his first year in the NBA. Many told him that he was going to ruin college basketball and bring immature players into the game; others felt that he was taking away positions from the veterans. Eventually, he was banned from the game.

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But after a lot of struggles, the case was judged in Haywood’s favor. The NBA also allowed players to enter early in case of “hardships.” He opened the doors for generations of prodigies for the world to witness. Following this, numerous stars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Garnett entered the league straight out of high school.

Eventually, the latest iteration of the rule, which requires a player to be at least 19 years old, came into place. Players jumping directly from high school have benefitted in certain cases as well. However, Auriemma still believes the current rules for the women’s side of the game are how it should be everywhere.