Bueckers vs. Watkins Spotlights WNBA Draft Eligibility Discussion

Unlike the NBA, which has allowed NCAA athletes to leave college early to go pro for more than 50 years, the WNBA restricts anyone in the U.S. from entering the draft before the year they turn 22 or graduate early.

Until recently, there was not much discussion about whether the WNBA should copy the NBA’s approach. Now, an influx of nationally recognized talent like USC’s sophomore star guard JuJu Watkins has made it a more intense debate. Watkins, who cannot go to the WNBA until 2027 under current regulations, said before facing UConn on Saturday night that changes must be made.

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“I definitely think we should have the option [to leave early],” Watkins said as a guest on the Good Game with Sarah Spain podcast. “There’s just been such a growth in college basketball where it’s like, ‘Why would you want to leave?’ Because you’re able to have that experience and build your brand here in college as well. I would definitely say we should have the option, but I think college is a way to prepare us for the pros as well. So, I don’t know. It’s a touchy subject, but I’m for it.”

Watkins is not the only highly touted draft prospect set to play in Hartford, Conn., on Saturday.

When the dynamic sophomore guard leads the No. 7 Trojans into battle against Paige Bueckers and the No. 4 UConn Huskies on Fox, it will be the rare occasion when the two highest-profile stars in women’s college basketball oppose each other in the regular season, reminiscent of the heyday of UConn-Tennessee rivalry throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Bueckers can leave for the WNBA after this season—and would likely be the top overall pick—but does have the option to return for 2025-26. She has history against Watkins.

They faced off in last year’s Elite Eight matchup (UConn won 80-73), and afterward, both schools quickly scheduled a home-and-home series between each other, with Saturday’s game at Hartford’s XL Center tipping off the arrangement before next season’s tilt at USC.

“There’s something unique and special about a home-and-home series, as it engages not only the national TV audience, but the fan bases of the respective schools,” Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement in May. “UConn vs. USC, on each coast over the next two seasons, will challenge our players in a terrific environment. What a great series to be a part of.”

The matchup in Hartford will give the country a peek into the WNBA’s future, creating lore that the star duo can carry into the pros.

Bueckers is the presumed top overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, seemingly destined for the Dallas Wings unless she chooses to return to Storrs for a sixth eligible year. (She gained extra years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a redshirt season after tearing her ACL in 2022.) If not for the W’s requirement for players to have graduated within at least three years or turn 22 years old ahead of the draft, Watkins herself might be in consideration for the top overall pick, such has her impact on the sport been.

The ability to retain elite players for at least three years, and usually four, has seemingly helped the women’s college game to build stars both on campus and across the country. With more eyes on the sport now, fans more willing than ever to pay top dollar to attend games featuring the best of the best.

JuJu vs. Paige is as good as it gets.

According to Victory Live, a secondary ticket market tracking company, the average resell price for the USC/UConn game is $127, the highest ever for a UConn women’s basketball home game. The previous record was back in February 2023 when the Huskies hosted South Carolina. Resell prices for UConn women’s basketball at the XL Center were already on the rise, averaging $57 so far this season, a $5 increase versus the same period last season. Yet Saturday’s game is more than double—223%, to be precise—of the current average.

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