[TheFarm07]

The #3 recruit in last year's class, Saniya Rivers, announced her intention to join the transfer portal and leave South Carolina.

I have a theory that since the WNBA is so small, there are very few roster spots for each year's draft class and unlike college, it's not like a group of pro players rotate out every year as a new crop of college players enter, therefore players know college is the last best US-based spot for them to play significant minutes and therefore, they want to maximize their collegiate playing time, even if that means leaving a program after one year.

I know there are overseas leagues which are potentially more lucrative than the WNBA, but if I am not mistaken, the WNBA is still the premiere place you want to be, but with only 12 active teams and 12 roster spots, that's only 144 availabilities. Even with just three rounds in the draft, only a small fraction of the 36 players drafted will get a chance to make a roster and that's not considering many other players who graduate every year. I wish the WNBA could expand, even to four more teams, for two 8-team divisions, opening up 48 more roster spots, but that's probably not a realistic possibility soon, as we've seen even successful franchises like the Houston Comets, despite winning the league's first four championships, fold.

Since this phenomenon is so widespread across so many different programs, from the top (defending champion South Carolina) to the bottom (rebuilding Cal among others) and with multiple players transferring every year, I don't think we can just attribute it to one coach or system.

Just my two cents on a possible contributing factor.

[TheFarm07]

The #3 recruit in last year's class, Saniya Rivers, announced her intention to join the transfer portal and leave South Carolina.

I have a theory that since the WNBA is so small, there are very few roster spots for each year's draft class and unlike college, it's not like a group of pro players rotate out every year as a new crop of college players enter, therefore players know college is the last best US-based spot for them to play significant minutes and therefore, they want to maximize their collegiate playing time, even if that means leaving a program after one year.

I know there are overseas leagues which are potentially more lucrative than the WNBA, but if I am not mistaken, the WNBA is still the premiere place you want to be, but with only 12 active teams and 12 roster spots, that's only 144 availabilities. Even with just three rounds in the draft, only a small fraction of the 36 players drafted will get a chance to make a roster and that's not considering many other players who graduate every year. I wish the WNBA could expand, even to four more teams, for two 8-team divisions, opening up 48 more roster spots, but that's probably not a realistic possibility soon, as we've seen even successful franchises like the Houston Comets, despite winning the league's first four championships, fold.

Since this phenomenon is so widespread across so many different programs, from the top (defending champion South Carolina) to the bottom (rebuilding Cal among others) and with multiple players transferring every year, I don't think we can just attribute it to one coach or system.

Just my two cents on a possible contributing factor.