Freshmen Phenoms Say Women Should be Able to Turn Pro Sooner

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Talented freshmen Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark wouldn’t mind having the option to enter the WNBA draft this year. Right now, they can’t go pro because of the league’s longstanding eligibility rules for the draft that haven’t really been a major part of WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. The draft eligibility rules have been in place since the start of the WNBA in 1997. American-born players would have to either have graduated or be on track to graduate the year of the draft. They also would be eligible if they turned 22 in the year of the draft or be four years removed from high school and have renounced any remaining NCAA eligibility.