[2006alum]

She makes much more in NIL in college than she will in salary as a rookie in the W, so my suspicion is the calculus for going pro early has changed compared to even two season ago. (and the even dirtier secret is her NIL value might actually drop once she goes pro...)

I agree with this and in general, am surprised more top collegiate prospects have not elected to use their extra year of eligibility. The college game and in my opinion the appreciation of it and the intensity of the tournament and Final Four is a much better experience for the athlete than the current state of the WNBA (and the very limited roster spots/playing time). 

I wondered after Kiana was cut if perhaps she wished she came back for a 5th year, and many other "top" college players who if not selected in the 1st round, seem to get cut.

Yes, lord knows we would have loved to have Ki back last season. That said, remember that for most SAs set to graduate in 4 years, they typically need to get into a graduate program to exercise a fifth year. For example, on the men's side, we recently learned that two SAs who didn't take their COVID 5th year at Stanford -- Oscar da Silva, who went to play pro abroad, and Daejon Davis, who grad transferred to UW -- couldn't get into a grad program at Stanford. So I think the COVID 5th year is not necessarily a gimme on the Farm.

[2006alum]

She makes much more in NIL in college than she will in salary as a rookie in the W, so my suspicion is the calculus for going pro early has changed compared to even two season ago. (and the even dirtier secret is her NIL value might actually drop once she goes pro...)

I agree with this and in general, am surprised more top collegiate prospects have not elected to use their extra year of eligibility. The college game and in my opinion the appreciation of it and the intensity of the tournament and Final Four is a much better experience for the athlete than the current state of the WNBA (and the very limited roster spots/playing time). 

I wondered after Kiana was cut if perhaps she wished she came back for a 5th year, and many other "top" college players who if not selected in the 1st round, seem to get cut.

Yes, lord knows we would have loved to have Ki back last season. That said, remember that for most SAs set to graduate in 4 years, they typically need to get into a graduate program to exercise a fifth year. For example, on the men's side, we recently learned that two SAs who didn't take their COVID 5th year at Stanford -- Oscar da Silva, who went to play pro abroad, and Daejon Davis, who grad transferred to UW -- couldn't get into a grad program at Stanford. So I think the COVID 5th year is not necessarily a gimme on the Farm.