Women's basketball community sees new NCAA-ESPN deal as a first step with more work to be done

Members of the women's basketball community say the new NCAA eight-year deal with ESPN that will pour an estimated $65 million annually into the sport reflects the growth of the game.

Now many are looking for one missing piece that is important to them: A revenue sharing program that gives performance units for success in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s a great step forward and it really shows how much progress has been made in just one year really,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “I think this definitely paves the way for a units program similar to the men. There’s still a lot left that we can accomplish and I look forward to it.”

That may just be more of a formality at this point.