The women’s college basketball season was off the charts –  I mean literally off the charts. Viewership records were broken, NIL deals have soared, and the fandom has increased.

The beauty of the NCAAW season is that it is immediately followed by the WNBA draft. This means the juice from the college season can drip into the cup of the WNBA. While that is where the fan growth should continue, for some odd reason there is a major disconnect and the WNBA just isn’t getting the picture. Every year we must watch a fan favorite have their name come across the Twitter timeline and not only are they fan favorites, but they are also solid players. They don’t get a chance to prove themselves because the league is stuck in its ways and won’t improve ways to keep draft picks around.

Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times via AP

 It gets old after a while. The WNBA is special but if the league wants to grow, they must figure something out. A few years ago, I wrote about adding extra roster spots so they can have extra players. They can get with Athletes Unlimited and have them host a season during the season as a G-League or developmental league for draft picks to get pulled from where they can have two or three years to develop instead of disappearing overseas. It’s getting to the point where fans feel that the WNBA draft is pointless because many of the players end up being cut.

I know these changes won’t be easy, but something has to be done. The league will have a chance to gain a whole new batch of fans with these upcoming draft classes and I hope they do whatever it takes to capitalize on it.