[chimera]

I don't get the don't go pro, you will lose NIL money idea for top players.  If Clark goes pro, she can still get endorsements.  She can probably get even more of them and would have more time for them without school.  Her Iowa fans will still follow her and a bunch of new fans will see her play for their team as a pro.  Top pros get a lot of money for endorsements, which is what NIL is.  It may make sense for a player who will be a marginal pro or cut and never make the league to stay in school and get whatever NIL money she can, since she probably won't attract many endorsements after school.  Then again, a player who will be a marginal pro probably is not pulling down a lot of NIL money in college unless she is a social media whiz, and if that is so, she can continue to be a social media whiz after school too and devote even more time to doing that.  Or get a "real" job and keep doing the influencer thing.  There are plenty of people who make money just by being social media influencers.   

So I don't get this whole don't go pro, you only get your salary idea - in theory someone who is a good NIL candidate is also a good candidate for endorsements as a pro.  Salary plus endorsements for a top pro should be > NIL for a college player.  How much has let's say Candace Parker made in endorsements in the past few years or over her career?  Also, WNBA salary goes up as your career continues.  Not going pro you may have one fewer year in you as a player.  The one year salary you won't get is the one at the top of the scale, not the rookie salary.

Yes, good points. Here's what I can think of:
1) Some NIL deals are tied to the school as put together by the local collectives. You leave the school, you lose your deal. I bet Angel Reese got some sort of lucrative deal put together by the LSU collective to get her there in the first place. And perhaps UCLA has something in place for Charisma Osbourne and that's why she's staying for her 5th year. Don't really know for sure.
2) Some deals are local and therefore only make sense if you are in that market. If you go to the draft, you are most likely headed to a different city and any local deals go away. Drew Timme made lots of money doing local promotion in Spokane. 
3) I think the biggest reason for the top stars is their exposure. The WNBA is just not very popular in many of its markets. I still like to watch Lexie play and, granted Indiana is the worst in the league, but she plays in front of way fewer fans at home and on TV than at her Stanford games. It's awful. There's no guarantee a player would increase their following or improve their brand awareness if they went to the WNBA and there's no guarantee of lucrative endorsements. Arike Ogunbowale might be a good comparison. She obviously played before NIL was a thing in college. But when she played at Notre Dame, she was a big name star and won Notre Dame a natty. She was constantly on SportsCenter, really an amazing college player. Does anyone even hear about her anymore? Hardly. I somewhat follow the WNBA but couldn't even tell you what team she plays on. I just looked her up - she's doing really well for the Dallas team. But I would be really surprised if she's swimming in endorsements. But for Clark, Bueckers, Brink, etc. transferring to certain colleges pretty much guarantees exposure, publicity, and increased following. Brink would blow up if she transferred to <LSU, UConn, Tennesee, etc>. She could pick up hundreds of thousands of followers to add to her base, let alone what the schools would pay for her to come. Or, she could pass on that opportunity and instead go to the WNBA and very likely become less popular. 

BTW, there's only one more year of this 5 year eligibility nonsense. After next year, players go back to only having 4 years of eligibility.

!.  How much do WBB players get from collectives?  I can't imagine the vast majority get over five figures, most probably less than that.  If that is not correct and they get a lot more, I understand staying.  I just can't see who would pony up a lot of money for player #6 or 8 on a team, even a top team.

2.  The local angle makes sense.  But again, that is for the big stars.  Timme is a nationally known name if you follow MCBB.  I don't really follow the sport and I know who he is, for instance.  How much do the others on his team who are not stars get from local businesses?  MBB and WBB is also not the same, money-wise.

3.  I can get with the idea college at a place like LSU or UConn may give more exposure than some WNBA teams.  I did a brief poke around Google and a story said Candace Parker made about 3 million in endorsements in 2022.  I'm sure the younger, lesser known stars like Arike Ogunbowale make less.  I saw she had some big endorsement deals but how big?  Don't know. I think the main point stands - the big stars will do fine in the pros. Can't stay in college forever.  I hate the 5th year thing.  Glad it will be over after next season.

[chimera]

I don't get the don't go pro, you will lose NIL money idea for top players.  If Clark goes pro, she can still get endorsements.  She can probably get even more of them and would have more time for them without school.  Her Iowa fans will still follow her and a bunch of new fans will see her play for their team as a pro.  Top pros get a lot of money for endorsements, which is what NIL is.  It may make sense for a player who will be a marginal pro or cut and never make the league to stay in school and get whatever NIL money she can, since she probably won't attract many endorsements after school.  Then again, a player who will be a marginal pro probably is not pulling down a lot of NIL money in college unless she is a social media whiz, and if that is so, she can continue to be a social media whiz after school too and devote even more time to doing that.  Or get a "real" job and keep doing the influencer thing.  There are plenty of people who make money just by being social media influencers.   

So I don't get this whole don't go pro, you only get your salary idea - in theory someone who is a good NIL candidate is also a good candidate for endorsements as a pro.  Salary plus endorsements for a top pro should be > NIL for a college player.  How much has let's say Candace Parker made in endorsements in the past few years or over her career?  Also, WNBA salary goes up as your career continues.  Not going pro you may have one fewer year in you as a player.  The one year salary you won't get is the one at the top of the scale, not the rookie salary.

Yes, good points. Here's what I can think of:
1) Some NIL deals are tied to the school as put together by the local collectives. You leave the school, you lose your deal. I bet Angel Reese got some sort of lucrative deal put together by the LSU collective to get her there in the first place. And perhaps UCLA has something in place for Charisma Osbourne and that's why she's staying for her 5th year. Don't really know for sure.
2) Some deals are local and therefore only make sense if you are in that market. If you go to the draft, you are most likely headed to a different city and any local deals go away. Drew Timme made lots of money doing local promotion in Spokane. 
3) I think the biggest reason for the top stars is their exposure. The WNBA is just not very popular in many of its markets. I still like to watch Lexie play and, granted Indiana is the worst in the league, but she plays in front of way fewer fans at home and on TV than at her Stanford games. It's awful. There's no guarantee a player would increase their following or improve their brand awareness if they went to the WNBA and there's no guarantee of lucrative endorsements. Arike Ogunbowale might be a good comparison. She obviously played before NIL was a thing in college. But when she played at Notre Dame, she was a big name star and won Notre Dame a natty. She was constantly on SportsCenter, really an amazing college player. Does anyone even hear about her anymore? Hardly. I somewhat follow the WNBA but couldn't even tell you what team she plays on. I just looked her up - she's doing really well for the Dallas team. But I would be really surprised if she's swimming in endorsements. But for Clark, Bueckers, Brink, etc. transferring to certain colleges pretty much guarantees exposure, publicity, and increased following. Brink would blow up if she transferred to <LSU, UConn, Tennesee, etc>. She could pick up hundreds of thousands of followers to add to her base, let alone what the schools would pay for her to come. Or, she could pass on that opportunity and instead go to the WNBA and very likely become less popular. 

BTW, there's only one more year of this 5 year eligibility nonsense. After next year, players go back to only having 4 years of eligibility.

!.  How much do WBB players get from collectives?  I can't imagine the vast majority get over five figures, most probably less than that.  If that is not correct and they get a lot more, I understand staying.  I just can't see who would pony up a lot of money for player #6 or 8 on a team, even a top team.

2.  The local angle makes sense.  But again, that is for the big stars.  Timme is a nationally known name if you follow MCBB.  I don't really follow the sport and I know who he is, for instance.  How much do the others on his team who are not stars get from local businesses?  MBB and WBB is also not the same, money-wise.

3.  I can get with the idea college at a place like LSU or UConn may give more exposure than some WNBA teams.  I did a brief poke around Google and a story said Candace Parker made about 3 million in endorsements in 2022.  I'm sure the younger, lesser known stars like Arike Ogunbowale make less.  I saw she had some big endorsement deals but how big?  Don't know. I think the main point stands - the big stars will do fine in the pros. Can't stay in college forever.  I hate the 5th year thing.  Glad it will be over after next season.