Quality of play: is improving at a very solid rate. Try watching a WNBA game from the 00s vs now and there's no comparison. Everyone has a good perimeter shot now in the pros and you see much better A/TO ratios than you used to. Athletes are better and develop into very good players where that wasn't always the case in the past.
I think the number of good players is up too. You look at the SEC for example, and there's no question it's a down year, but individually there are some very good and dynamic players in McCowan, Howard, Cooper, Morris, R. Howard, Cunningham and Westbrook (among others). Lots of very skilled players around the country.
As far as spreading out talent and parity, it is still far behind men's basketball. The men's game has a wider spread of talent because the best players always leave for the draft which balances the playing field. Teams like Wisconsin for example keep players 3-4 years and players steadily improve and are experienced even if they are not as talented as the 1 and dones. They have a big advantage in experience and understanding the ebbs and flows of college basketball over the new guys, but the new guys obviously have a raw talent and athletic advantage so it typically evens out.
On the women's side, the best players consistently go to the best schools and stay there all 4 years. That's the biggest reason why we've seen teams like UCONN, Notre Dame, Stanford, Baylor, etc. stay around the top of polls because they almost always have the best players and usually they're usually somewhat experienced too. I don't see parity changing unless top players stop choosing powerhouse programs.
Coaching health is improving, big time. There are a lot of really strong coaches in women's basketball right now who have made their mark in the last decade including Muffet, Rueck, Schaefer, Staley, Mulkey, etc. I think aside from maybe Pat/Geno/Barmore/Tara, most of these "newly successful" coaches are stronger than the other previous "greats" likes Jody Conradt, Sue Gunter, Marsha Sharp, Kay Yow, Andy Landers, Jim Foster, etc. By and large the newer coaches benefit from better players, but they also run more complex offenses and their teams are just more enjoyable to watch. I also don't think there's any question that Geno, Muffet, and Tara are all much better coaches than they were 15 years ago.
The Olympic team is still so far ahead of anyone else in the world, so the health there is good other than that tournaments are pretty dull to most fans since the USA is so dominant. Traditionally strong countries like Australia, Russia and Brazil lack star power compared to previous decades.
Health of women's college basketball-attendance isn't great but coverage of games is much improved. You can see almost every game for any P5 program now via streaming or conference affiliated TV channels. I think it balances out. There also seems to be more coverage on major networks compared to in the past. Health overall is about the same IMO.
Health of the WNBA is poor IMO. Attendance is inflated due to freebies handed out, stands are consistently empty and the players overall seem displeased with pay and conditions. There seems to be a new president every couple of years, no new franchises in years and a few teams seem to be on the verge of folding (ex. the Liberty). The quality of play is by far the best it has ever been, but the league needs a drastic switch to make it another 10-15 years IMO.
Also, a lot of the complaints made above are very UCONN specific since UCONN plays in an awful conference. The competition is dreadful and it isn't exciting to watch a home team get slaughtered by the Huskies year in year out. When UCONN plays on the road against a team that has a chance of beating them, fans come out. For non-UCONN games, head over to the SEC and you'll see close game and more fans in seats. Head over to the Pac-12 and the quality of play is a lot higher. Same with the ACC.
Overall the health is strong in some areas, weak in others. More rivalries, upsets, and great moments in the Final Four like we had last year will help grow the sport.
where we learned to cook and sew), or similar ”appropriate” activities. Sports were manly and that didn’t change until maybe the 1990’s. Heck, the women born 10 years before me were told not to be caught sweating, er, “glowing” in public. It’s changing but an evolution that’s still underway
