UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma once expressed his displeasure about having one-and-done players in women’s college basketball. In April 2024, during a radio interview with ESPN’s “UnSportsmanLike,” coach Auriemma shared his thoughts on potentially allowing one-and-dones in women’s basketball, like they do in the men’s circuit.
As it stands, the men’s game allows players to play just one year in college and be eligible to turn professional and get drafted into the NBA. On the women’s side, however, players are allowed to become pro only after finishing four years of college basketball or turning 22.
Coach Auriemma believes having one-and-done players in women’s college basketball would be a backward step that would diminish the competitiveness and overall stature of NCAA women’s basketball. Auriemma used former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark as an example and said:
“It depends whether you want the game to grow or you want to kill it. If you want to kill it, then let the kids leave after their freshman year. On the men’s side, it’s become transactional. Everybody’s a free agent. Everybody’s a mercenary. It’s not the kids’ fault. To me, what helped the women’s game grow is the people in Iowa got to grow up with Caitlin Clark. The people of Connecticut got to grow up with all of my great players.”
“There’s something to be said for that. I don’t know that our game can continue to move forward if all of a sudden, our guys are gone. So I like the rule, and the players decided the rule. So if they change the rule, God bless ’em, but I think it’ll ruin the game,” he added.
As of now, there have been discussions to alter the women’s game and allow one-and-done players, but nothing concrete has been done so far.
For now, the rule stands that women’s college basketball players have to play for four years in college or turn 22 years old, which allows coaches like Auriemma to have continuity with their respective programs.
Geno Auriemma Saw Paige Bueckers Get Selected With the First Overall Pick in WNBA Draft
As he has developed some of the best women’s basketball players of all time, Auriemma recently saw his most recent star, Paige Bueckers, get selected with the first overall pick in the first round of the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings.
Both Auriemma and Bueckers are coming off their victorious 2025 national championship campaign.
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