Geno Auriemma isn’t a fan of any potential one-and-done rule in women’s college basketball.
The longtime UConn coach made that position abundantly clear during an ESPN Radio interview on “Unsportsmanlike with Evan, Canty, and Michelle” when he said that it would “ruin the game.”
At the moment, the WNBA requires that players have either graduated from college, or they’re within three months of doing so, or they turn 22 within that calendar year.
“It depends whether you want the game to grow or you want to kill it,” Auriemma said about any potential one-and-done rule.
“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 kids’ 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.”
Men’s college players are able to turn pro after just one season in the NCAA.
“I don’t know that our game can continue to move forward if all of a sudden our guys are gone,” Auriemma said. “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.”
Any change to that stipulation would come from the pro side since draft eligibility rules are put in place as part of the collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and WNBPA.
The current collective bargaining agreement runs through 2027, but there is a mutual opt-out clause that can be triggered by Nov. 1 and would terminate the agreement after the 2025 season.
Most women’s players stay all four years — except for several exceptions — and name, image and likeness money has helped make up for not being able to turn pro.