Now that Caitlin Clark is a member of the Indiana Fever, it’s time to turn the page on the 2024 WNBA Draft and look ahead to what could be an even more talented class in 2025. This is the last group of players to be eligible for a pandemic bonus year, so the WNBA will have a true double draft of fourth- and fifth-year seniors, which will simplify the process for general managers who no longer have to wonder who will declare.

The relevant exception to that is the medical redshirt. Players still have an additional year of eligibility if they sit out for a season due to injury, as is the case with the top prospect on the board. However, the number of players who fall into that category is relatively small.

Given that the draft order isn’t set until after the 2024 WNBA season, which has yet to commence, this isn’t a mock draft. Instead, it’s a list of the top players without regard to team fit. This exercise also only considers domestic prospects, though we should expect internationals to factor heavily on draft day in 2025. After all, three non-NCAA players were taken in the first round of Monday’s draft.

Much is expected to change between now and then, but probably not the…

How does women’s college basketball capitalize on this moment?

It was the question most frequently asked and answered at the Final Four last weekend in Cleveland, as the sport continued to break both attendance and viewership records. The growth in women’s basketball has been dramatic and quick; the 18.9 million people who tuned in for the South Carolina-Iowa national championship game was an 89 percent increase from the 2023 title game and an astounding 285 percent increase from 2022.

The women’s tournament was, by all measures, a triumph. But the teams whose success drove it did not receive money for their part of it. And so, as the sport turns its page to next season, focus has centered on the simplest and most straightforward piece of progress: units.

Each men’s team that participates in March Madness earns a sliver of NCAA Tournament revenue called a “unit” for making the field and then one unit for each subsequent win. First Four victories count, too. Each NCAA Tournament unit is worth just over $2 million and is paid out over the course of six years.

Women’s teams receive nothing for making or advancing in their NCAA Tournament. The disparity is tied to the men’s nearly billion-dollar media rights deal with CBS/Turner, as well as the history of the…

The 2023-24 college season featured more star power than any in recent memory, and the good news for WNBA fans is that many of those players will be back on the court quickly. The 2024 WNBA Draft is on Monday, and several stars who dominated the national conversation during the college season will be taking their talents to the professional stage.

Every year, it boggles the mind how quick this transition is for collegians. Caitlin Clark will go from game-planning for South Carolina to being on the same roster as former Gamecocks great Aliyah Boston within nine days. There isn’t even enough time for a WNBA Draft Combine, so some team executives are working with incomplete information about height and wingspan.

As a result, the WNBA Draft, compared to its NBA counterpart, has always favored players who were able to produce in college rather than those who have the theoretical tools to succeed at the next level. We can project how a different team context will affect a player’s impact, but at a certain point, if they don’t have a high-level resume after four years, it’s hard to take a risk on them.

WHO WILL BE NEXT?

Draft Day. April 15th 2024. pic.twitter.com/D9vHv0TwdD

— WNBA (@WNBA) April 9, 2024

That’s why the draft is a great entry point to the WNBA for…

Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks put a decisive seal on an undefeated season in the NCAA women’s championship on Sunday. It’s no surprise that they open as the 2025 favorite to win it all again, with +150 odds on BetMGM. With only one player confirmed so far to be leaving  — Kamilla Cardoso has declared for the WNBA Draft — Staley’s third championship could ring in an age of a true dynasty. (Counterpoint: With a win in 2022 after another undefeated regular season, they already are one.)

Behind the Gamecocks, the odds favor Texas (+325) and UConn (+475). Both teams should be bringing back key starters for the 2024-25 season. Notre Dame +700, USC +1000 and UCLA +1200 round out a top tier of favorites before the odds start thinning out with NC State at +2200 and LSU at +3000.

All of the top five teams have shorter odds than the favorite in the men’s tournament, reflecting the continued gap in parity between the two.

But change is coming for the women’s tournament next year. Conference realignment will shift rivalries and set up new challenges for dominant teams — with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joining the Big Ten; Oklahoma and Texas joining South Carolina in the SEC; Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah moving to the Big 12; Oregon State and

With Iowa’s loss to South Carolina in the national title game, Caitlin Clark has officially played her last college basketball game. Lucky for all of us, there’s no shortage of star talent around the country. With the game’s parity, conference realignment and more games on national television, several players appear poised to burst either onto the national scene or even further into the national zeitgeist of American sports.

Here’s a look at the 10 biggest stars who could take over (or re-take) women’s college basketball next season.

(Editor’s note: Players’ class listed for 2024-25 season)

1. JuJu Watkins, USC

Sophomore guard

This dominant freshman class is led by Watkins, who managed to capture the nation’s attention while being mostly tucked away on the Pac-12 Network for most of the season. She’s tasked with leading the USC resurrection as the Trojans move to the Big Ten. Conference realignment only helps Watkins’ star power and name recognition as she’ll now (finally) have games that are accessible to the whole country thanks to the Big Ten Network being partly owned by FOX. The fact that she’ll be playing in and around the three largest media markets in the U.S. and that the Big Ten, sans Caitlin Clark, will be looking for a new conference star to…

Congrats to South Carolina, which was the No. 1 team in all but one edition of this season’s rankings. The Gamecocks proved they were the best team in college basketball for all of 2023-24, just like last year, only this time they were able to cap their remarkable regular season with a national championship. South Carolina’s success was the primary validation of these power rankings, though the last poll did feature 15 of the Sweet 16 teams in the top 18 (apologies to Duke).

In case you’re interested in how well my first power rankings of 2023-24 held up, take a gander! Oregon State really came out of nowhere.

As we look ahead to 2024-25, a reminder that this is an indicator of how teams stand right now, though WNBA Draft decisions and transfers — keep an eye on Oregon State and Washington State following the dissolution of the Pac-12 — could substantially change the makeup of rosters. I’ve priced in some player improvement, particularly for younger players with high pedigree, but otherwise tried to assess these squads based on how the players finished this season. Let me know in the comments if you think I’m overlooking anyone.

Almost famous: Kentucky, Michigan State, Vanderbilt

Why South Carolina over UConn?

South Carolina is losing Kamilla Cardoso, but otherwise…

The Athletic has live coverage of Iowa vs. South Carolina in the women’s national championship game.

CLEVELAND — There’s just something different this time around.

That’s not to take anything away from last year’s Final Four in Dallas. History will always look back fondly on that entire women’s NCAA Tournament from start to finish — the first-weekend upsets, undefeated South Carolina falling in the national semifinals, and, of course, Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese Part I. It was a pivotal moment for women’s basketball, full stop.

But what happened this week in Albany, N.Y., led to the sport’s taking an entirely new leap, a jump that I’m not sure even I could have predicted at this point. It was … just … a normal major sporting event.

LSU vs. Iowa was treated just like any other monster game. In the lead-up, there was a lot of media coverage, as analysts broke down where teams had strengths (LSU in the post, Iowa at the logo) and weaknesses as well as motivation heading into a revenge game for the Hawkeyes. We weren’t told to watch the game simply because we should support women’s sports. We were drawn to the game because it was incredibly compelling.

During and after the game, fans argued about LSU coach Kim Mulkey’s (failed) defensive game plan for…