Women's Basketball Has Too Many Good Players But Not Enough Roster Spots. One WNBA Alum Wants to Fix That.

With attention around women's hoops at an all-time high, 1986 NCAA champion Fran Harris is setting her sights on creating a home for the best players that don't make a WNBA roster.

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Fran Harris has a number stuck in her head: 16,651.

That’s how many women, according to the NCAA, played collegiate basketball in 2023-2024.

In the WNBA, there’s 156 roster sports spread out over 13 teams with a couple more expansion franchises on the way in the coming years. Of the 30 NCAA players that were selected in the league’s draft this spring, just 16 made it through training camp and to opening night.

It’s a common story in women’s basketball and now Fran, a 1986 NCAA national champion at Texas who played much of her professional career in Italy and Switzerland, wants to take advantage of the wave of enthusiasm to help those that need a place to play.