By Carley Crain
@carley_crain12
Women’s basketball has seen unprecedented growth in the past year across all levels and leagues. That growth will be apparent at the 2023 Spalding Hoophall Classic as well. Nine girl’s teams will hit the court at the Birthplace of Basketball – including five of the 2023 espnW top 100 recruits and four from the Class of 2024’s Super 60.
The 2022 tournament featured only two girls’ games. That number has more than doubled, with five games slated for the 2023 event. Hoophall has a history of showcasing the best male high school basketball players in the country, as many have gone on to play in the NBA.
The tournament is starting to feature more girl’s teams, as this year marks the most competitive girls’ showcase in Hoophall history. This is partially due to women’s basketball’s rise across the country, specifically in the NCAA.
La Jolla Country Day School’s (CA) Jada Williams, a senior point guard who will compete at the Hoophall Classic, for example, is one of many high school student-athletes to capitalize on name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities. She has over 670,000 followers on Instagram and has sponsorships with Spalding, Gymshark and DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Williams’s teammate, senior post Breya Cunningham, is represented by The Sports International Group and is committed to one of the top collegiate programs in the country － Arizona.
For women’s basketball players, not only is social media an opportunity to expand their own personal brand, but it is also a way for the sport itself to gain popularity amongst a larger crowd. Social media engagement and the NIL policy have helped grow the sport. Many women’s basketball players are also outspoken about social issues – which is intriguing to fans.
According to Forbes, WNBA fans are two to six times more likely to be interested in women’s rights and politics, compared with fans of other different professional sports leagues. The league’s supporters would rather watch a sport and individual athletes who care about human rights rather than a league that doesn’t.
Research from The Rise of Women’s Sport Report found that when men’s and women’s games of the same sport are aired simultaneously, it increases interest in the women’s version. Hoophall for example does just this – as the crowd will not only be able to watch star athletes like Bronny James and Mikey Williams – but also the dominant women’s players from schools like La Jolla Country Day and Sierra Canyon.
The Spalding Hoophall Classic is an opportunity for athletes to be seen and recruited by the top colleges and coaches, as it provides players with the chance to play in a highly competitive tournament at the Birthplace of Basketball. But for the women, the NCAA, which is the next step for many Hoophall attendees, has a reputation for prioritizing and rewarding men’s basketball.
For example, the NCAA’s premier basketball championship tournament, also known as ‘March Madness,’ has been a prime example of systematic gender discrimination through a basketball lens.
In the 2021 tournament, a TikTok went viral after it showed the lack of equipment, gifts, recreation areas, COVID tests, and food options for the women compared to the men’s teams. The NCAA did an external review after the video went public, and it was concluded that the NCAA does in fact prioritize men’s basketball over women’s. How women’s basketball is treated in the NCAA directly impacts every other level of the sport – as college basketball acts like a gateway to success for many athletes.
This year’s Spalding Hoophall Classic features multiple players who have committed to Division I schools. Sierra Canyon’s eclectic guard Judea “Juju” Watkins is espnW’s #1 2023 recruit and is committed to the University of Southern California. Her 6-foot-2 frame, combined with elite defensive skills, set her apart.
Behind her at No. 3 on the top espnW top 100 is Jadyn Donovan, a two-way guard for Sidwell Friends (D.C.) who is committed to Duke. Donovan and her team will face off against Watkins and Sierra Canyon on day three of the tournament at 1:30 p.m.
Photo: Sports Illustrated