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.

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WNBA Draft grades: Fever earn A for picking Clark, Sky receive C+ even with Angel Reese

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

O.J. Simpson, known for his prowess on the football field with USC and the Buffalo Bills, and later for the criminal and civil trials in the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, died of cancer Wednesday, Simpson’s family announced via social media Thursday. The 76-year-old was recently diagnosed with cancer.

On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.

He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.

-The Simpson Family

— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 11, 2024

 

Simpson was arrested for the June 1994 killings of Brown Simpson and Goldman. The sensational criminal trial mesmerized America for eight months and ended with Simpson’s acquittal. At a 1997 civil trial, he was found liable for the deaths, in a decision that was so widely anticipated that it was broadcast via split screen just as President Bill Clinton began his State of the Union address.

When Simpson retired after the 1979 season, he ranked second to only Jim Brown on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. Simpson, who played for the Bills and San Francisco 49ers over his 11-year career, won the rushing crown four times…

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…

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)

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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

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Why South Carolina over UConn?

South Carolina is losing Kamilla Cardoso, but otherwise…

CLEVELAND — There weren’t screams of outrage across the basketball landscape when the coaching staffs for Saturday’s inaugural Women’s College All-Star Game were announced several weeks ago, but there were whispers and raised eyebrows.

Did you hear? Can you believe it? What were they thinking?

The questions revolved around the inclusion of Cynthia Cooper as a volunteer assistant. While definitely a basketball legend, which is how she and the three other coaches were described in the announcement, Cooper also was the focal point of a damning and disturbing 2022 investigative report by The Athletic that outlined allegations of inappropriate, vulgar and verbally abusive behavior toward players on multiple teams over multiple decades.

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Former players accuse Cynthia Cooper-Dyke of demeaning, demoralizing and abusive behavior

She resigned from Texas Southern two years ago and had stayed out of the coaching spotlight until her photo appeared alongside those of Nancy Lieberman, Janice Braxton and Cheryl Miller in the press release. The reaction may have been muted nationally, but the pain was very real among the former players who spoke out in the article.

“She needs to apologize to every player she hurt publicly and make a statement,” one of them told The Athletic…

Oftentimes when society takes what is perceived to be a significant step forward, we stop and ask whether we are witnessing a movement or a moment. That question seems particularly relevant today as we near the finish line of the most memorable and consequential season in women’s collegiate basketball history.

An entity once marginalized by fans and broadcast partners alike is suddenly as hot as fish grease. The Associated Press is reporting that tickets to the women’s Final Four are going for at least double that of the men on the secondary market, which is understandable considering one is played in an arena, the other a football stadium. But it wouldn’t be shocking even if both were in the same building considering the interest in Iowa’s 94-87 victory over LSU on Monday night in the Elite Eight showdown.

The rematch of last season’s NCAA championship game attracted 12.3 million viewers to become the most-watched collegiate women’s basketball game in history despite being aired on cable. Sportsmediawatch.com reported that it was ESPN’s largest basketball audience since Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference finals, and Joe Pompliano of “The Joe Pomp Show” said it outdrew both the 2023 NBA Finals and World Series, as well as the Orange, Cotton and Peach bowls,…

When asked about what she said to Caitlin Clark after Iowa’s 94-87 win over LSU in the Elite Eight game in Albany — a game that saw the transcendent Clark score 41 points and tie the NCAA Tournament single-game record with nine 3-pointers — LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey said, “What did I say to her? I said, I sure am glad you’re leaving. I said, Girl, you something else. Never seen anything like it.”

No one has ever seen anything like what we are seeing right now when it comes to women’s college basketball viewership. Clark has shot down plenty of records during her career and she and those who played in Monday night’s game can now add this to their resume: They played in the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history.

Iowa’s win over LSU averaged 12.3 million viewers. That shattered the previous all-time mark set last year for LSU’s win over Iowa in last year’s championship, a game that averaged a record 9.9 million viewers.

Prior to last year, the previous record for an NCAA women’s basketball title game in the ESPN era (since 1996) was 5.68 million viewers for UConn’s title win over Oklahoma in 2002, a game that featured Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. The previous all-time record for any women’s basketball game prior to…

Follow live coverage today as Iowa, UConn meet in Final Four

Players don’t get to assemble their own rosters, but who they choose to play with is an important part of the recruiting process and transfer portal decisions. The Athletic took it a step further with women’s college basketball players and allowed them to play GM with their teams.

If you could add one player to your roster, who would it be and why?

The obvious answer surely would be Caitlin Clark, right? Yes, but the Iowa star wasn’t a runaway choice. Players thoughtfully considered a variety of factors, including their roster needs and best fits for their teams.

The Athletic surveyed 95 NCAA Tournament players, including 85 from the Sweet 16, about their sport. They dished on coaches, opined about their peers and shared thoughts on weightier topics like draft rules and NIL. Players were granted anonymity to allow them to be candid without fear of repercussions. Some players abstained from certain questions.

If you could pick one player to join your team, who would it be?

Read more…

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