NOT THIS VALUE PROPOSITION EITHER?

With the basketball tournaments under way, the continuing quest for fans in the seats in the women's game pivots to ... diversity.  "Women's basketball needs faces of future to be Black."  We're not dwelling on the memory-holing of great players in the era before the NCAA became the governing body this time, although that remains germane.  "Giving the talented players a chance to compete is one thing; giving spectators a reason to attend the games or watch them play on television is quite another.  The story of women's basketball is one combining Horatio Alger and Technocratic Impulses."  It's not as if the sport hasn't appealed to the Woke in as many ways as the most creative of promoters can conceive.

Never enough, though, according to Lindsay Schnell, of the USA Today organization.

With Caitlin Clark headed to the 2024 WNBA draft, where she’s projected No. 1 overall, Watkins, the nation’s second leading scorer this season behind Clark, is positioned to become the face of women’s basketball. She'll be joined by Notre Dame point guard Hannah Hidalgo, the other favorite for freshman of the year.

Not lost on any of the powerbrokers in the game: Both of these players are Black. And in a game built by Black women, it matters that the faces of the future look like the faces of the past.

Over the past few years, as women’s basketball has exploded in popularity, much of the media and marketing attention has focused on three prominent white players: Clark, UConn junior Paige Bueckers and Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, who graduated in 2020.

Too often, the Black players who built women’s hoops — and who now dominate the professional level, where the WNBA is 70% Black — haven’t been acknowledged. Occasionally their existence has been wiped from the record books completely, like with former Kansas standout Lynette Woodard's Division-I scoring record not being recognized by the NCAA.

“I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault or been anyone’s intention,” Southern Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb told USA TODAY Sports. “But there haven’t been enough commercial endorsements of Black female superstars in our society, period.”

That's quite the bundle of random points, isn't it?  Does anybody get upset that the faces of the current National Basketball Association are almost never Jewish, despite that league getting its start inter alia in the Borscht Belt?  Does anybody with a working knowledge of the game, or a decent search engine, not know about the NCAA's curious handling of records preceding their takeover?  Has anybody considered that the game's inability to offer a value proposition to, oh, I don't know, children of all ages and men, is trimming those endorsement opportunities?

One key issue, WNBA players say, is that the college game is much more accessible than the pros. Clark and Iowa regularly play on Fox, as do Bueckers and UConn. Inoescu and the Ducks had numerous primetime ESPN games. For the first time ever last March, the NCAA women’s championship was broadcast on a non-cable channel (ABC), with the same planned this year.

At a USA Basketball training camp last month, Las Vegas star Kelsey Plum quipped that it would be nice if the WNBA had a better media rights deal so “my mom doesn’t have to jump through 10 hoops to watch our games" on some random streaming platform.

Markets have strict grading curves, don't they?

Alas, the story notes how that, shall we say authenticity, steps on the value proposition the sport's enthusiasts are looking for.

[Notre Dame coach Niele] Ivey calls [Hannah] Hidalgo and [JuJu] Watkins “must-see TV,” and believes the swagger they play with will draw new fans to the game. There’s something for everyone, Ivey said — including people who don’t care about basketball. With the invention of NIL, college athletes can now build personal brands and followings. Ivey thinks players’ interests outside of the gym — Hidalgo speaks openly about her faith, while Watkins is passionate about bettering her LA community — will widen their appeal.

But make no mistake, their on-court play will lead the way.

Ivey credits some of that to Clark and LSU All-American Angel Reese. When LSU beat Iowa for the title last year, major trash talk ensued between the two. Reese, who is Black, was called classless for jawing at Clark, though Clark had talked plenty of trash throughout the tournament herself. Reese told critics afterward: "This is for the girls that look like me." The superstars drew attention partially because of the emotion they showed.

“Then their game followed,” Ivey said. “Their games backed everything up, and they were elite. That really helped enhance and elevate women’s basketball and now, the future of the game, Hannah and JuJu, they play with a boldness we need as we continue to put (women’s basketball) in the spotlight.”

Yes, that title game got a lot of attention, much of it for the wrong reasons.

It is a truth universally accepted that the expanded presence of referees in interminable reviews has been to the detriment of the experience, and the very phrase "process of the catch" ought tell you that you've introduced unnecessary complexity into the experience.  We'll get to the specific events, many of which Ms Armour alluded to in her column, in time.

This post is taking the form of a mini-dissertation simply because there was so much going on to detract from the experience of the game, and a lot of it was culture wars stuff.  Iowa brought a team of corn-fed prairie kids, while Louisiana State were ready to go clubbing somewhere in the French Quarter, and let's say there wasn't a lot in the way of inclusive spirit on social media.  A tale of two cultures?

Then Louisiana State played South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference title game, and some players should have been given five minutes for fighting.

With the Gamecocks leading the Tigers by seven with just over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter, South Carolina freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley stole the ball from LSU sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson. As Fulwiley moved away from Johnson, Johnson attempted to reel Fulwiley in by pulling on the back of her jersey, causing Fulwiley to spin toward the sideline.

As Johnson walked toward the LSU bench, she exchanged words with South Carolina sophomore forward Ashlyn Watkins. Johnson then shoved Watkins, which led to Gamecocks senior Kamilla Cardoso running toward Johnson before pushing her to the ground. As the exchange unfolded, Johnson’s brother (who was charged with assault) was also seen jumping out of the stands and coming onto the floor, where he engaged Cardoso before being led off the court.

The sequence of events led to the ejection of Cardoso and both team’s benches. When South Carolina celebrated their championship win, only the players who remained in the game stood on the podium.

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise riveting second installment between the two high-powered programs. The moment also overshadowed the latest milestone for a South Carolina team that has put together a dominant season.

At times, fans might be wondering whether they're watching basketball or unlimited fighting.

Cardoso and Reese continued their physical play throughout the game. During the second quarter, in a play missed by officials, Reese was seen pulling on Cardoso’s hair as she exited the paint. Later in the quarter, Reese was assessed an intentional foul for an errant elbow after being pushed off by Cardoso.

While accountability should be expected from both teams after Sunday’s events, it should also be directed to the game’s officiating crew who, despite the game’s physical nature, seemingly lost control of the game long before the fourth-quarter eruption.

Physical violence should never be the result no matter how intense the play on the court or heightened the emotion from any player. While it was clear Cardoso was merely protecting her people, it was taken too far. For that reason, her exit was justified. It feels important, though, to acknowledge the events that led up to the boiling point.

And the culture warriors fired up their keyboards, again.

The moment was also unfortunate for Staley, who has worked tirelessly to thwart the unfounded criticisms of her team and protect her players. Staley has always stood up for her players and team, historically composed mostly of Black women, who have long been the targets of online racism, microaggressions and coded language.

“We’ve been called thugs. We’ve been called prisoners. We’ve been called monkeys,” Staley said in February 2023.

Critics pray and wait for an opportunity to criticize Staley and her program. Those very trolls used Sunday’s events to attack Staley and her players. Johnson and Reese were also subject to attacks on social media.

And Louisiana State coach Kim Mulkey, a throwback to the early days of the sport, is being her usual classy self.  That noted, the officiating in the women's games leaves a lot to be desired.  In other off-the-court distractions, South Carolina's Sahnya Jah, who Dawn Staley suspended on February 8 for conduct unbecoming (note: before that season-ending brawl) has entered the transfer portal.