I don't think it's a stretch to think Parker, Nneka, Sims, January, Diggins, and Loyd are just as good, if not better than some already on the team. I also don't think it should be an issue with anyone to grow the game. Everyone benefits when the game grows. I believe if you simply pick the best, the rest will work itself out.
My point about university success goes back to the excuse that many use when they say UConn players have so much college success that it stands to reason they would be on the team. So why does this same excuse not work for others that have had college success? If it matters for UConn players, it should matter for them.
I've also heard many say, including the committee, that UConn players get the advantage because they know Geno's system and it improves the preparation time, so there again, UConn players are getting an advantage due to college affiliation.
Bottom line: it should either matter for all or matter for none. Equal opportunity.
The problem with ND players:
Achonwa is actually at the Olympics, just playing for Canada (and probably would not be considered for the US team at this time anyway), Diggins was injured this past year and was still recovering through the first half of the WNBA season, and she last played international rules basketball since 2011 and has only played two age specific competitions (2011 and 2008) so she has limited experience and has chosen so far not to play internationally as a pro. Loyd is the same age as Stewart and likely gets her chance soon. McBride is in the pool but has yet to break through and is now injured. None of these players has done enough yet to displace anyone of the current guards/wings - and I cannot think of another player from ND in the pros that is under serious consideration - from 2001 till Diggins arrival, ND was not that good a team - there run is recent and the players above are all still young.
Stanford - Jane Appel got serious consideration but her star has waned a bit. Wiggins as well I believe got some consideration. The O sisters are the ones that stand out currently but they fall into that area of the USA team that is really strong - they are not big and strong enough to play post defensively in international competition and they are not that great in the mid range to the arc. Nneka this year is tearing up the WNBA and has developed her mid-range game, and I suspect that she will be selected in the future, but I am not sure that her sister will get further than the NT pool.
Baylor has Griner on the team and Sims in the pool, and I see Sims as a competing with Loyd for the DT type position on the NT. I don't see another player likely to be added to the pool from the current seniors, juniors, or graduates.
College success is very different from pro success and what is different about Uconn is that in the last 15 years the great players at Uconn have gone on to great pro careers as well - the same has not been true in anything like the numbers from any other of the really good college teams. Some of that specifically has to do with the coaching - and the echo of that coaching is something that USA basketball even when Geno is not the coach looks for in players at all levels. I think Tara and Muffet run their teams in very similar ways, but they have not generally had the iconic recruits that Geno has gotten so the talent even with their tutelage that has gone into the pros for most of the last decade is just not quite good enough. If you look at the players: Sue, DT, Maya, Tina, Stewart - with the exception of Sue and Stewart, they were all #1 in HS, #1 for most of their college careers, and #1 at their positions in the pros. (Stewart has yet to prove it in the pros, and Bird came out of HS lower down, but quickly proved it at the college level and in the pros.) We will see what happens as Sue and DT retire - I do not see a Uconn player replacing DT, but I would not bet against Moriah replacing Sue. Maya and Tina are not slowing down, and Stewart is only just growing into her pro game.
