Syracuse women’s basketball freshman Nicole Michael doesn’t want to hear any of the talk.

Sure, she set the SU record for single-season scoring in her first year with the Orange, is the first player in Syracuse history to score more than 500 points in a season and one of only two freshmen to earn All-Big East honors this year.

But even when Orange head coach Quentin Hillsman jokes about Michael jumping to the professional ranks early, the freshman just laughs it off.

‘It was a dream for me since I was in high school, but right now I’m not thinking about going pro,’ Michael said. ‘I have three years to be in school, to get better and be prepared to go to the pros.’

Michael’s not alone. No women’s basketball player has left college before graduation to join the WNBA. League rules state a woman must be 22 years old or be in the year of her college graduation to join the WNBA. But even if no rule limiting entry into the WNBA existed, women have a different reality when it comes to professional basketball.

The first four draft picks in the WNBA Draft receive a contract worth $43,200 per season. The maximum salary for a WNBA veteran is $93,000, and each team has a $728,000 salary cap. Meanwhile, the average NBA salary is almost $4 million, according to the NBA Player’s Association Web site, and 20 of the 30 first-round picks in the 2006 NBA Draft were so-called ‘early entries,’ meaning they departed college early or are college-age international prospects.

The salary discrepancy demands women’s basketball players analyze the viability of a professional basketball career. While NBA players can focus solely on their duty to their team, WNBA players often need to supplement their income by spending the offseason in their career field or playing basketball abroad.

Washington Mystics head coach Richie Adubato said his entire team played overseas this winter and estimated 80 percent of all WNBA players do the same. Though those women receive what Adubato called ‘big money,’ he said a college player could not go immediately overseas and command the same respect – and salary. Adubato said most players must first play in the WNBA to earn the attention of international teams.

‘They are paying big money to the stars of the WNBA,’ Adubato said. ‘It’d have to be an extreme case (for a college player to compete overseas). You don’t have the credibility unless you star in this league.’

This March, rumors circulated about Tennessee standout Candace Parker potentially bucking the trend and leaving school to play professional basketball. Tennessee lists Parker as a redshirt sophomore, but she could have entered the WNBA Draft because Parker’s expected graduation date – December 2007 – satisfies the WNBA rule.

Despite the large endorsement contracts and superstar status almost assuredly awaiting the women’s college basketball national player of the year in the professional ranks, Parker decided to return to UT.

‘Candace is probably the best player to come along since (three-time WNBA most valuable player) Sheryl Swoopes,’ Adubato said. ‘She has the credibility to command that. She’s the special case.’

Until 1997, women’s basketball players had little choice – either they played overseas or used their college degree to find a job.

Connecticut Sun forward Kristen Rasmussen, a seven-year veteran of the WNBA, always planned on playing professional basketball, but didn’t seriously consider the WNBA until her junior year at Michigan State. She and her Spartan teammates often discussed playing together professionally, even though the WNBA was in its infancy at the time.

‘Of course we were talking about playing at the next level,’ Rasmussen said. ‘We were so excited about pursuing our dreams here.’

Despite that excitement, Rasmussen echoed Michael’s sentiments about playing professional basketball – it’s always good to have that college degree, just in case.

If she were to sustain an injury or lose her roster spot for some reason, Rasmussen’s glad she can turn to her background in kinesiology education.

‘The WNBA’s great,’ Rasmussen said. ‘It’s a great job. But you never know. If anything were to happen, I always have my degree. It’s great to have that.’

Michael said she’s never discussed playing professional basketball with her SU teammates like Rasmussen did at MSU.

In fact, Michael said SU’s head coach is the only person to address professional basketball around her, and Hillsman only meant to offer a high appraisal of Michael’s basketball skills by suggesting the freshman could play professionally.

While the early entry list for the 2007 NBA Draft already has reached 20 players according to CBS Sportsline, Michael – like most women – is not in a rush to start her professional career.

‘Some women may be (anxious to play professionally),’ Michael said. ‘In my perspective, no. You’re playing basketball here. It’s like a level. You have to graduate this level to play in the league. I don’t think we should rush it.

‘I want to make money, so I’ll go to school and do my four years.’

But Adubato, Michael and Rasmussen all expect the WNBA will eventually reach the current level of the NBA, including early entries into the league’s draft.

Adubato pointed to the NBA’s struggles in the 1970s. The head coach of the Detroit Pistons in 1979 and 1980, Adubato saw failing franchises and lagging attendance. Adubato said his top player, Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, made a then-staggering $150,000.

Judging by the development of the women’s game and sold-out crowds witnessing the women’s Final Four, Adubato said there is no reason to suspect the WNBA’s path will differ from the NBA’s.

‘It’s a young league,’ Adubato said. ‘It’s a struggling league right now. The salary cap is low right now while we’re growing. When I was in the league in 1979, there were a lot of questions if the NBA was going to make it. A lot of franchises were in trouble.

‘There’s no question the (WNBA) is growing. You see the crowds at the NCAA Tournament. It’s growing at the grassroots level. Everyone sees the players are getting better.’

Even if Michael is not the one to start a women’s basketball movement, she fully expects to see someone do it eventually.

And when it happens, she’ll laugh – just like she did when her college coach suggested she’d be the one to do it.

‘I think eventually it will go away, and women will jump early,’ Michael said. ‘That’s a big mistake. I think people should do four years. Or at least complete enough to graduate.’

Published on April 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm