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Message: [QUOTE="Dillon77, post: 4537390, member: 6620"] And the players that are mentioned aren't necessarily there for their playing ability: Paige Bueckers (NIL) and JuJu Watkins (choosing to attend USC). Coaches mentioned: Niele Ivey and Dawn Staley, the latter for what she has done and for what she will do (fill the void when Geno and Tara retire). And, lastly, the AD's mentioned are brought up for that very reason. Here are a few of the people mentioned and a link to the overall article. [HEADING=1]2/3. David Benedict, UConn AD, and Bernard Muir, Stanford AD[/HEADING] For decades, the East and West coasts have had their established women’s basketball powers, built and sustained by Geno Auriemma and Tara VanDerveer. But the game’s two winningest coaches have fewer games ahead of them than behind, and when they retire, it’ll mark an unprecedented time in the sport for most modern fans — after all, what is women’s college basketball without Tara, 69, and Geno, 68? The responsibility to hire replacements for these two giants will fall on Benedict and Muir. These are the kinds of decisions that could both define their careers and the sport for years to come. [HEADING=1]4. [URL='https://theathletic.com/womens-college-basketball/player/paige-bueckers-shPPHB7Wb7WifqUv/']Paige Bueckers[/URL], UConn guard[/HEADING] In many ways, Bueckers already has changed the next 20 years of women’s college basketball by being the ultra-successful guinea pig of NIL. Even with missing as many games as she has over the last two seasons, she’s still racking in endorsement deals and her celebrity extends far beyond women’s college hoops. Decades from now, when the impacts of NIL are known and better understood, Bueckers will be a patient zero of sorts — one several athletes in the coming years will attempt to emulate. [HEADING=1]13. Niele Ivey, [URL='https://theathletic.com/college-basketball/team/notre-dame-fighting-irish-college-basketball/']Notre Dame[/URL] coach[/HEADING] Twenty years ago, VanDerveer and Auriemma were leading programs that had won a few national titles and been regulars in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Notre Dame isn’t completely unlike those programs, and while Ivey hasn’t been the sole architect of Notre Dame in the way VanDerveer and Auriemma have been at Stanford and UConn, Ivey has the potential to lead this storied program into the next iteration of its legacy. At 45 and at the helm of one of the most recognizable brands in women’s college hoops, she has an opportunity to influence the game and build the sport in the next two decades. [HEADING=1]17. Dawn Staley, South Carolina coach[/HEADING] It took Staley four seasons to turn South Carolina from a dud of a program into the class of the SEC, and another five seasons to become the national champs. At 52, she’s no longer a young up-and-comer on the women’s basketball scene, but in a seemingly short amount of time, she has already built up a program that rivals the dynasties built at Connecticut and Stanford. With impending retirements from Auriemma and VanDerveer, Staley and South Carolina feel like the next big giant in the sport that can persist over the next decade (at least). While her impact on the court has been felt, and will be felt for many years to come, her impact off the court has changed the game, too. Between using her voice to hold those in power, both in sport and social justice, to account, as well as her public fight for equal pay at South Carolina and her desire to pave a way for every Black head coach in the game, Staley has become a mentor for many in the game. [URL unfurl="true"]https://theathletic.com/4178216/2023/02/15/womens-college-basketball-future/[/URL] [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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