JuJu Watkins seemingly has been ready for the professional ranks since walking onto the USC campus and immediately becoming a basketball and cultural sensation.
The 6-foot-2 guard shattered records during the 2023-24 season, scoring more points (920) than any freshman in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history en route to leading the Trojans to the Elite Eight, the school’s deepest NCAA Tournament run in 30 years.
But despite her supreme talents, Watkins will have to wait to join the WNBA.
Unlike the NBA, which has allowed NCAA athletes to leave college early to go pro for more than 50 years, the WNBA restricts players in the United States from entering the draft either before the year they turn 22 or graduate early.
Watkins, who turns 20 years old on July 15, will not be draft eligible until 2027 under the WNBA’s current regulations. Here’s a look at the league’s draft eligibility rules:
What are the WNBA’s draft eligibility rules?
According to the collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and its players’ union, all NCAA players who graduate from a four-year college within three months of the draft, or are four years removed from high school graduation, or turn at least 22 years old during the year in which the draft takes place are eligible to…
