Paige Kicks Up One And Done Debate | The Boneyard

Paige Kicks Up One And Done Debate

RockyMTblue2

RockyMTblue2

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I suspect the Players Union would oppose reducing draft age to make One and Done a reality any time soon.
 
It seems that a lot of parents would encourage their children to stay in college and get a degree before pursuing a career in women's basketball. All it takes is one significant injury, no matter how un-predictable that may be, to end an athletic career. At least, the education might provide an avenue for a rewarding career after basketball.

Help me remember: did not Geno carry some very promising athletes on scholarship even thought their injuries limited their playing and a professional career?
 
Unless and until the WNBA salary structure increases significantly and there are more teams in the league, the idea of one and done for women's college basketball will not go anywhere. There aren't many players like Paige out there and to be honest, while she is a great player no doubt, I'm not convinced she is ready for the WNBA physically.
 
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The difference with men's basketball is this: when a player does a one and done with the NBA he's financially set for life. Even if something goes wrong he has that security. Not so with the women, who even if they succeed in the W, would need to play overseas to supplement their income. That's both a much harder road and a lot less tempting than the men's situation, so I'm not sure why any women would take up the one and done opportunity if it was available.
 
cometjo said:
The difference with men's basketball is this: when a player does a one and done with the NBA he's financially set for life. Even if something goes wrong he has that security. Not so with the women, who even if they succeed in the W, would need to play overseas to supplement their income. That's both a much harder road and a lot less tempting than the men's situation, so I'm not sure why any women would take up the one and done opportunity if it was available.
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Even for the best WNBA players...playing overseas is more than a supplement. In fact, their WNBA salary is supplementing their overseas pay. My thing is this...even round one selectees barely get playing time in the WNBA...so some kid one year out of college in will probably not fare any better. A player like Paige would be the exception. The WNBA is just starting to get more fans. The last thing they want is the quality of play to decline because they have a bunch of kids a year removed from hs who think they are the next WNBA highlight reel. We already have enough of those in the transfer portal.
 
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This video appears to be much ado about nothing. We have some media folks talking about something that is contractually impossible until at least 2027, Paige entering the W as a one & done. Beyond that, the current 1st year salary in the W for a #1 draft pick is $70,040, which is just less than the average 1st year computer technology graduate of $72,000.

The one relevant point, made by Jay Bilas, is that when NIL legislation is in effect, Paige will have the opportunity to make more money in college than in the W.
 
ScottCT said:
Because the current talent pool isn't big enough in women's college basketball to continuously lose their best players after every year.
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It’s not like WBB attracts millions of fans or makes tons of money. WBB is largely subsidized by colleges and universities. One and done will not change that fact one way or another.
 
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Sigh... It's a collectively bargained issue in the WNBA. The new contract was just signed and included nothing about this. They will not re-open contract talks over this. It's a non-issue for six more years.
 
oldude said:
It’s not like WBB attracts millions of fans or makes tons of money. WBB is largely subsidized by colleges and universities. One and done will not change that fact one way or another.
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Yes, but I'm talking about from a quality standpoint.
 
ScottCT said:
Yes, but I'm talking about from a quality standpoint.
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Well OK. The quality of MBB and FB are certainly not served by the most talented players leaving on a one & done basis, but we’ve all gotten used to it. If the W ever agrees to a one & done possibility for WBB, I suspect we’ll get used to it as well.

I would point out that with NIL on the horizon, only 12 WNBA teams and extremely limited compensation for rookies in the W, the potential for one & done in WBB is far more limited.
 
oldude said:
This video appears to be much ado about nothing. We have some media folks talking about something that is contractually impossible until at least 2027, Paige entering the W as a one & done. Beyond that, the current 1st year salary in the W for a #1 draft pick is $70,040, which is just less than the average 1st year computer technology graduate of $72,000.
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I think the conversation is off-track as a result of a fixation with the W.
Whenever (if) Paige signs with the W, she will receive the current $70,040, not exactly a princely sum.

But there is nothing stopping a Russian,Turkish or Chinese team to offer her 1 million plus tomorrow.

That is the real threat, perhaps not for the upcoming season but for 22-3, much more likely

And if she accepts, it could well open the floodgates for other young stars...Azzi?
 
msf22b said:
I think the conversation is off-track as a result of a fixation with the W.
Whenever (if) Paige signs with the W, she will receive the current $70,040, not exactly a princely sum.

But there is nothing stopping a Russian,Turkish or Chinese team to offer her 1 million plus tomorrow.

That is the real threat, perhaps not for the upcoming season but for 22-3, much more likely

And if she accepts, it could well open the floodgates for other young stars...Azzi?
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Paige is an outlier. While players in the W can earn more overseas, only a handful are earning BIG money. Paige is also an outlier in the fact that her greatest earnings potential may well entail staying in college and signing lucrative NIL deals with companies such as Nike.
 
They shouldn’t do that for the fact it’s not enough WNBA teams and players will lose their opportunity to go back to college if not drafted
 
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There will be one and done across the board.

It will not destroy Women’s BB

In a small amount of cases, the NIL may keep a few players in college for another year or two.

Unions will be available for student athletes. Not all will vote to have them causing initial havoc for college sports.

A lay-up competition will be added to the dunk and 3 point shooting contests. UCONN may or may not submit a contestant.
 
msf22b said:
I think the conversation is off-track as a result of a fixation with the W.
Whenever (if) Paige signs with the W, she will receive the current $70,040, not exactly a princely sum.

But there is nothing stopping a Russian,Turkish or Chinese team to offer her 1 million plus tomorrow.

That is the real threat, perhaps not for the upcoming season but for 22-3, much more likely

And if she accepts, it could well open the floodgates for other young stars...Azzi?
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This is an interesting possibility for a couple of stars maybe, but don't forget that the European teams have a limit on the number of foreigners (ie Americans) who can play. As usual Paige might be an exception, but how many college players are better than the WNBA veterans who are the alternative for a team that can only take one?
 
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oldude said:
Paige is an outlier. While players in the W can earn more overseas, only a handful are earning BIG money. Paige is also an outlier in the fact that her greatest earnings potential may well entail staying in college and signing lucrative NIL deals with companies such as Nike.
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Certainly monies collected from endorsements are a major factor.
I'm just not sure that one's amateur status or country of activity plays an important role.
(just ask Miss Naomi about that...she seems to have that base covered).

And I fantasize upon the dilemma our young hero would face if some nekulturny Moscovite waved a million big ones in front of her charming visage...perhaps a three-year deal with perks, guaranteed, of course.

How would a 19 year old respond to that?

As in the Pajama Game: "It's enough for me to buy, a year's supply of...."

Hard to turn down, neh?
 
msf22b said:
I think the conversation is off-track as a result of a fixation with the W.
Whenever (if) Paige signs with the W, she will receive the current $70,040, not exactly a princely sum.

But there is nothing stopping a Russian,Turkish or Chinese team to offer her 1 million plus tomorrow.

That is the real threat, perhaps not for the upcoming season but for 22-3, much more likely

And if she accepts, it could well open the floodgates for other young stars...Azzi?
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It will destroy the game. Let these kids be kids. Enjoy college. Enjoy the friendships they make. They will graduate soon enough, and have lots of time to make money.
 
GMP 65 said:
It will destroy the game. Let these kids be kids. Enjoy college. Enjoy the friendships they make. They will graduate soon enough, and have lots of time to make money.
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Disagree. The players aren't kids. All of them are adults that sometimes have to make tough life decisions. Paige will be 20 in a few months, and athletes have a relatively short window in which to capitalize on their fleeting peak physical condition. Paige could always earn her degree online during down time or go back to school when she's done playing. What she can't do is turn back the hands of time. It's why I think one and done makes a lot of sense for the best players who can make that jump because they are so much better than their peers.
 
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hoopsfan22 said:
Disagree. The players aren't kids. All of them are adults that sometimes have to make tough life decisions. Paige will be 20 in a few months, and athletes have a relatively short window in which to capitalize on their fleeting peak physical condition. Paige could always earn her degree online during down time or go back to school when she's done playing. What she can't do is turn back the hands of time. It's why I think one and done makes a lot of sense for the best players who can make that jump because they are so much better than their peers.
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Yet the roster sizes in the WNBA often means that very talented players often don't make the team, and are relegated to playing in international leagues to make any money if they decide to pursue basketball. If you open "one and done" not only the "best" players like Paige will declare, but so will many others who aren't as good but life circumstances or bad advice will forgo their college degree - and will never play in the WNBA. So many men make the same calculated decision to declare for the NBA draft only not to be drafted but relegated to a G-league or international league career. Let's be honest: there isn't a lot of money in the WNBA vs NBA first-rounders so even the allure of quick mega-bucks is currently a mirage.

The long game here is to continue to build the fan base at the HS and college level, build appeal for the WNBA product and one day the revenue stream will be significant enough so it'll be viable for the one-and-done scenario. I have no doubt we'll get there but IMO we're not even close.
 
The state of women's basketball in the U.S. seems akin to the situation with professional soccer. Really talented American players almost all decamp for Europe to play in the top leagues with the biggest salaries, rather than play in the U.S. pro league. Many either ignore the college game altogether, or leave early to get paid in Europe. And let's not forget that there essentially is no "college game" in European soccer. Great soccer talents are signed to contracts with junior teams of the professional franchises. They are developed by professional coaches employed by the big league clubs. So the kids get paid from early on. None of this wasting time with college, while, I might add, usually coming out without degrees, or having majored in highly suspect disciplines like "recreation management."

I don't think it's so much a question of whether to come out of college early for the WNBA, but whether to turn pro and earn big bucks in Europe. The WNBA, after all, is just a summer league. Not the Big Time in terms of money.

The excellent point was also made that the WNBA is far too small to accommodate all of the top talent that's coming out of American colleges. And having even more talent flood in in the form of undergrads seeking places on WNBA rosters would prove even more dysfunctional for the WNBA.
 
hoopsfan22 said:
Disagree. The players aren't kids. All of them are adults that sometimes have to make tough life decisions. Paige will be 20 in a few months, and athletes have a relatively short window in which to capitalize on their fleeting peak physical condition. Paige could always earn her degree online during down time or go back to school when she's done playing. What she can't do is turn back the hands of time. It's why I think one and done makes a lot of sense for the best players who can make that jump because they are so much better than their peers.
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Let's consider some other sports like golf and swimming. Katie Ledecky turned pro while in college, as did Tiger Woods. No one seemed to bemoan the fact that they left their college teams high and dry. So if these superstars in other sports have the right to earn big bucks early on in the pros, why not women basketball players? I think the early exit for WCBB is right around the corner. Just can't keep a great talent like Paige sitting around Storrs forever. Change is almost here.
 
Fairfield Fan said:
Let's consider some other sports like golf and swimming. Katie Ledecky turned pro while in college, as did Tiger Woods. No one seemed to bemoan the fact that they left their college teams high and dry. So if these superstars in other sports have the right to earn big bucks early on in the pros, why not women basketball players? I think the early exit for WCBB is right around the corner. Just can't keep a great talent like Paige sitting around Storrs forever. Change is almost here.
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as much as ppl would like to see her in the pros, I don't think even if she was eligible to go she would go. She seems like she is enjoying college with her friends. After this season there will only be one more yr to go where she is eligible assuming she wants to leave after 3 yrs. I think also with the support of her parents and being able to still live with her dad makes it easier to enjoy where she is at. Some others unfortunately go to pros early or overseas cause their parents they see them struggle and they have to find a way to provide for them
 
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