Several women's college basketball players announce push to unionize with UCAA

Over 100 women's college basketball players representing several schools across the country have joined in an effort to form a union. In coordination with the United College Athletes Association, the organization teamed up with several women athletes to push for collective bargaining within the sport.

According to ESPN's Dan Murphy, the effort was spearheaded by Oregon State's basketball team. While women's basketball players are leading the charge, the effort wants to push for a CBA across all major sports and schools: 

The 100-plus players have signed union authorization cards to allow UCAA to represent them in collective bargaining discussions. They plan to start by attempting to bargain with individual schools as membership grows. The UCAA announced that Oregon State's basketball team, where 10 of the 13 players have signed union cards, filed a petition Friday to be recognized as union members and to negotiate with the university.

"For the first time, college athletes have built a national labor organization dedicated to giving them a collective voice in the decisions that shape their health, safety, education, and careers," the UCAA's official release writes.

"The organizing effort began in 2024 when more than 100 college women’s basketball players sent a letter to leaders of the Big Ten and SEC requesting a formal process to collectively collaborate on issues affecting college athletes. After those conferences refused to meet with the players, the players continued organizing—building relationships across campuses, developing athlete leadership, and laying the foundation for what is now the United College Athletes Association."

At this time, it appears as though no South Carolina players are featured on the UCAA's page, and Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley appears to not be involved at this time, at least not publicly. 

The group's executive committee features several big-name stars, such as Maryland's Oluchi Okananwa, LSU's Jada Williams UCLA's Charlisse Leger-Walker Michigan's Brooke Daniels Oregon State's Jenna Villa, Indiana's Malia Samuels, Missouri's, Grace Slaughter, SDSU's Kennedy Lee, and Wisconsin's Destiny Howell.

Given the various issues the NCAA is facing with respect to NIL restrictions, the transfer portal and recruiting as well as a lack of transparency among players and other teams, unionizing has been seen as a potential solution for several years. But how various state laws handle unions and classifying athletes as employees make it tricky to find common ground. At the very least, the UCAA's announcement is a great first step to sorting all that out.

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