Is This An “Epiphanny” For Women’s B-ball?

Epiphanny Prince is only a junior at Rutgers University, yet she has chosen a path rarely seen in women’s basketball. She has decided to forgo her senior year at college to play professional basketball overseas.

Epiphanny Prince decided to forgo her senior year at Rutgers University to play professional basketball overseas.

“I just wanted to start my pro career,” Prince told The Associated Press by phone. “I feel it was the right move for me and my family. I’ve always dreamed of playing in the WNBA.”

This move definitely in line with a new trend for college basketball, in which young and talented players will leave college early in order to start their pro careers and to make some money. It’s a well-known fact that WNBA players make a fraction of what NBA players make. Most women who play professional basketball supplement their meager salaries by playing professionally overseas, where they are paid much more to play basketball.

Candace Parker left Tennessee with a year of eligibility remaining, but she already had graduated when she was the top pick in the WNBA draft in 2008. Men’s basketball players have been leaving early for the NBA for decades.

Although Prince isn’t the first woman to leave school early to play in Europe, she is probably the most well-known. In the upcoming years, you will probably see this happen on a much larger scale, with more women’s college basketball players ready to make the jump — degree or not.