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Morning Edition

April 7, 2025

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Geno Auriemma and UConn are back on top of the college basketball world. With 12 national titles, no program in NCAA history—men’s or women’s—has won more. The win cements UConn as the biggest brand in women’s college basketball.

Plus, don’t miss some of the best sound bites from our event at the Women’s Final Four in Tampa.

— Colin Salao [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], and Daniel Roberts [[link removed]]

Back on Top: UConn, Geno Auriemma Make History With 12th Title [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

TAMPA, Fla. — UConn and Geno Auriemma are back at the top of women’s college basketball.

The Huskies defeated South Carolina 82–59 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa on Sunday to win their 12th national title, breaking a tie with the UCLA men’s basketball team for the most in NCAA history, men’s or women’s. The championship ended a nine-season drought for UConn, the longest since Auriemma’s first stretch as head coach (1985–1994).

The 71-year-old coach, who has led the Huskies to all 12 of their championships, has said that his retirement is looming. “These kids are fun, but there is going to come a time when the fun doesn’t eliminate how hard it is to do this job,” Auriemma said Sunday after the game. He said that his job has felt more like an “obligation” in recent years.

However, he also said Saturday that due to the team’s success and his love for the players and team staff, it’s “very difficult” to walk away from the program. He noted Sunday that this title was one of the most “emotional” of the dozen.

In 2024, UConn announced a five-year, $18.7 million extension with Auriemma that runs until the 2028–2029 season. The $3.74 million average annual value was the highest at the time the deal was signed, though it was surpassed in January by Dawn Staley [[link removed]], whose new deal will pay her $4 million annually.

Paige Bueckers Is on the Clock

The Huskies star, who finished with 17 points against the Gamecocks, will only have a week to soak in the national championship before she officially turns pro. The WNBA draft is on April 14, and Bueckers is expected to go No. 1 to the Dallas Wings [[link removed]].

Reports have circulated that the 23-year-old may attempt to maneuver her way to another franchise—a move akin to what Eli Manning did in the NFL in 2004. Bueckers told FOS on Thursday that there is “nowhere specific” [[link removed]] she wants to play when she turns pro. “Wherever I end up,” Bueckers said.

The Wings are one of five franchises in the WNBA considered “independent,” meaning their owners do not also own another major sports franchise in the same city. The other independent WNBA franchises are the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, and Seattle Storm.

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House v. NCAA Hearing Set: Turning Point for College Sports Amateurism?

USA Today

SAN ANTONIO — On Monday night, Florida and Houston will face off in the NCAA men’s national championship game. Several hours earlier, in a courtroom in Oakland, Northern District of California judge Claudia Wilken will preside over an approval for the proposed House v. NCAA settlement [[link removed]]—which would allow schools to pay players for the first time in NCAA history.

The hearing is slated to span several hours and conclude shortly before tipoff in San Antonio. It will feature testimony from some of the dozens of objectors to the proposed agreement, from lawyers to athletes like LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who have submitted concerns [[link removed]] over the expected legality of new NIL restrictions and the revenue-sharing cap, gender disparities in payments, and negative impact of roster limits.

Wilken is not expected to issue a decision from the bench Monday afternoon, NCAA president Charlie Baker told reporters Saturday before the Final Four—but he hopes to glean insight into the way Wilken is leaning. If approved, the settlement would take effect next season and could have major implications for the future of athletic department composition [[link removed]] and basketball-only schools [[link removed]].

What’s At Stake

The settlement, between a group of D-I athletes and the NCAA and power conferences for three lawsuits filed over the past few years, would offer $2.8 billion in damages to players who couldn’t earn NIL money before the NCAA changed its rules in 2021. It would also allow schools to share a portion of their athletic department revenue (earmarked as NIL earnings from appearing on broadcasts) with all players, beginning at $20.5 million this upcoming year.

The settlement is antithetical to the NCAA’s entire business model of “amateurism,” which holds that schools shouldn’t be allowed to pay players for participating on teams because they aren’t professionals. But the governing body and power conferences have agreed to it to save billions in damages if they lose at trial, as well as to maintain a modicum of control over future college sports compensation rules.

For more on the House v. NCAA case, read Amanda Christovich’s full story here [[link removed]].

Auriemma and Staley: Women’s Hoops Should Have Its Own TV Deal [[link removed]]

David Butler II-Imagn Images

TAMPA, Fla. — Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma have been fierce competitors on the court and lead two of the most successful programs in the sport, but the coaches are on the same page when it comes to the future of women’s basketball.

On Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s title game, both coaches advocated for a new television deal for the women’s March Madness tournament—one that would be independent of any other NCAA championship.

“We need our own television deal so we can understand what our worth is,” Staley said.

The NCAA extended its rights package with ESPN in January 2024: an eight-year, $920 million contract for 40 NCAA championships for an average annual value of $115 million. The women’s basketball tournament was the star of a deal worth $65 million, about 56.5% of the whole contract.

However, a third-party study conducted in 2021 concluded that, by this year, the NCAA could have fetched around $81 million to $112 million [[link removed]] if the women’s tournament were to have an independent deal.

“For years and years and years we’ve been packaged with all the other Olympic sports, so to speak, in one big chunk. Can we completely separate ourselves and say: What are we worth to you?” Auriemma said.

This new deal allowed conferences to be awarded with “units” for the first time, monetary awards that granted a total of $15 million this season and will hit $25 million by 2027.

The women’s basketball funds, once they are fully funded, will account for about 41% of the women’s basketball value in the new ESPN agreement, a source told FOS. The men’s funds account for approximately 24% of the men’s broadcast agreement.

Without mentioning ESPN, Auriemma even suggested that the NCAA could also explore different media partners for a new deal. “It may be somebody else cause there’s so many more choices,” Auriemma said. ESPN has owned the rights to the women’s tournament since 1996.

It’s unclear, though, if Auriemma and Staley’s pleas will turn into immediate action, given the first year of the eight-year deal was this year. Staley’s press conference comments were prompted by a question about newly announced Women’s Basketball Coaches Association president Jose Fernandez and whether he had any ability to kickstart negotiations.

“I’m not going to tell [Fernandez] how to do his job, but there are certain things that we need. I don’t know if he can get that, [but opening] up negotiations for a new television deal would be nice,” Staley said.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS HONORS

Innovating and Elevating

Building on last year’s partnership with Sports Innovation Lab, the Most Innovative awards spotlight the trailblazing organizations redefining the sports industry through creativity and progress.

The Most Innovative awards [[link removed]] consist of eight categories: venues, college athletic departments, leagues, teams, events, tech companies, brands, and media companies.

Sports Innovation Lab’s methodology utilizes in-depth research methods and data analysis—including proprietary transactional datasets and social listening tools, among others—to establish criteria for each award. Evaluation areas include partnerships, data and technology, and environmental and social impact.

The nomination window is now open through June 22. Submit now [[link removed]] for the best price.

ONE MORE BITE What We Heard in Tampa

FOS

TAMPA, Fla. — Just a few hours before tipoff of the Women’s Final Four matchups Friday, Front Office Sports welcomed 140 movers and shakers in women’s basketball for food and conversation at our Courtside Collective [[link removed]] event with Optimum Sports, ESPN, and Eli Lilly & Company. Notable attendees included veteran SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm, Women’s Sports Network president Carol Stiff, and former WNBA All-Star turned Dallas Wings executive Jasmine Thomas.

Speakers on our two lively panel chats included ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt, ESPN marketing VP Jo Fox, Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler, Oregon basketball star Deja Kelly (host of the FOS show NILOSOPHY [[link removed]]), Eli Lilly chief brand officer Lina Polimeni, and five-time NBA All-Star John Wall.

You can imagine which topics came up again and again: NIL money and its impact on the college game; how women’s hoops can continue to meet the moment as well as the added pressure; and how the success of women’s sports has raised the expectations for facilities and amenities from women’s teams and leagues.

Here are three notable soundbites from the event.

Monica McNutt, who played at Georgetown, on the rising expectations for facilities [[link removed]]: “I can remember 2007–2011 being at Georgetown and the men’s program had Jordan gear, we had Nike gear. And during my four years, I got more tournament wins than the dudes, for the record. But there was still this sense that men’s basketball drives Georgetown, men’s basketball this, and we still had second class. Now, me, in my ‘gratitude is a way of being,’ I walked away from that experience and said, ‘I got a free degree, it’s cool.’ It’s not cool though … This generation of athlete understands that while I’m grateful to be here, there is a standard that exists for me as a professional athlete, let alone being a woman, so you are now calling out what is this team offering as far as the support services … because the window of second-class athlete based on gender [[link removed]] has closed.” John Wall, a No. 1 NBA draft pick, on the NIL era [[link removed]]: “I think it’s great, but I think the most important thing is the foundation they have, if it’s their mom or dad or somebody that’s mentored them. Because some kids can take NIL the wrong way and not put the work in… But I think it’s great and it’s an opportunity to be a businessperson very young… I wish I had NIL when I was in college. But I think it’s dope. I think they gotta do a better job of controlling what it’s going to be like. You don’t want to see so many kids going into the portal every year.” Deja Kelly, who played in the past five NCAA tournaments and just declared for the WNBA draft, on the importance of college athletes converting NIL deals into endorsement deals [[link removed]] when they go pro: “The salary is not where it needs to be from the WNBA, which is why women’s players—pros—rely so much on brand endorsements. That’s why it’s such a big deal, so we don’t have to go overseas in the offseason to be able to make that money up, so we don’t have to have a whole other side job in the offseason.”

Make sure you stick with FOS for our continued extensive coverage of the booming business of women’s sports, especially now that we have Annie Costabile [[link removed]], who joined us last week and hosted the second panel, covering the beat full-time.

Editors’ Picks Houston-Duke Final Four Result Showcases Transfer Portal Impact [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The schools took vastly different approaches to their roster construction. Alex Ovechkin Breaks NHL All-Time Scoring Record, Netting 895th Goal [[link removed]]by Meredith Turits [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]With goal 895, Ovechkin has won the GR8 Chase. Unrivaled Made Over $27 Million in Revenue, ‘Almost’ Broke Even [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]More ticket and merch sales will be key in Year 2. Question of the Day

Has UConn cemented itself as the greatest program in NCAA basketball history?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Friday’s result: 66% of respondents think women’s March Madness is still riding last year’s wave of popularity.

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