NCAA stars like Olivia Miles opted to stay in school instead of entering the WNBA Draft due to the next CBA likely bringing larger salaries.
Notre Dame star point guard Olivia Miles averaged 16.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game during her junior season, earning All-American second-team honors. Throughout the season, she was projected as the second overall pick in Monday’s WNBA Draft behind only UConn‘s Paige Bueckers, which is far from an unimpressive feat.
But for a variety of potential reasons, Miles elected to enter the transfer portal instead of entering the draft, committing to TCU for her senior campaign to replace Hailey Van Lith at the point. She’ll join a stacked 2026 draft class featuring UCLA center Lauren Betts, UConn guard Azzi Fudd, and LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson, who all could’ve also entered the draft but elected to stay in school an extra year.
But why?
The easy explanation for these collegiate titans opting to delay their pro careers is that they could earn way more in NIL money at school than they could bring in on a rookie WNBA salary. The top four 2025 picks in the WNBA Draft are projected to earn just $78,831 in the first season, per Spotrac. But that’s a lazy excuse, considering that those same NIL sponsorships and partnership opportunities would likely be available in endorsement deals if they were in the W instead of college.
More likely than not, the reason why Miles is heading to Fort Worth instead of a team like the Los Angeles Sparks has everything to do with the next WNBA collective bargaining agreement.
The day after the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx to win the WNBA title on Oct. 20, the WNBPA announced it was opting out of the current CBA that now expires on Oct. 31, seeking larger salaries and better benefits as the W grows in revenue, TV ratings, and overall interest. The league is receiving hundreds of millions in expansion fees on top of the 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal it signed with ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon in July. It only made sense, then, that the players would want a larger piece of a rapidly growing pie, with some players even threatening to strike next year if they don’t get a bigger slice.
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How much could salaries for top rookies increase in a year from now under a new CBA if the players receive larger compensation commensurate with their essential role in the WNBA’s incredible growth? Is it out of the question that rookie salaries could double next year or even more? It sure seems like it’s something players like Miles, Betts, and Johnson want to find out, even if it means risking an injury that could hurt their hypothetical draft stock before April 2026.
On Monday, the spotlight will be on Bueckers, dynamic French big Dominique Malonga, Miles’ former Notre Dame teammate Sonya Citron, and the rest of the 2025 draft class. And rightfully so. But as we celebrate the WNBA’s new, exciting rookie class, a part of us will think of the factors behind why it’s not as great a group as it could be.
Players like Miles are placing a yearlong bet that by the time the 2026 WNBA Draft rolls around, their salaries under a new CBA will be well worth the wait.
