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Under the watchful gaze of the Pat Summitt statue, an eight-member panel of two athletics directors, two longtime administrators, one head coach and three athletes convened for a roundtable discussion about the 50th anniversary of Title IX, its impact on women’s athletics at Tennessee and the Lady Vols legacy of leadership and excellence in women’s athletics.

When Karen Mullins injured her knee during her first season on the UConn women’s basketball team in 1975-76, she had to convince the athletic department’s doctor to perform the ensuing cartilage operation.

On June 23, Title IX — a civil rights law forbidding discrimination based on sex — turns 50. And with the half-century that has ensued since the passing of the statute, there is certainly progress to celebrate.

On June 23, 1972, the Education Amendments Act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The legislation addresses gender inequality in education and within it is a clause called Title IX that reads: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Some of the giants of women's basketball say if not for Title IX, doors would not have been open for them to blaze trails on the court, off the court and in the broadcast booth — careers that landed them in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Editor's note: June 23 is the 50th anniversary of historic Title IX legislation being passed. This is the second in a series of stories about its impact on the University of Wisconsin.

Ginny Gilder wasn’t well versed on what Title IX meant until she was a freshman at Yale, competing for the rowing team and taking part in one of the most famous protests surrounding the law. The co-owner of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm was right in the middle of the “Yale Strip-In” in 1976 to protest inequities in the treatment of men and women rowers at the school.

On Thursday, June 23rd, VOICEINSPORT will join U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Capitol Hill to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and announce their support of his upcoming legislation, The Fair Play for Women Act of 2022, a bill that will help to fulfill the promise of Title IX by improving gender equity in college and high school sports.

As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, two-thirds of Americans say they know “not much” or “nothing at all” about the federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex at schools that receive federal funds, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

The 11th season of SEC Storied wraps with “CATCH98” – the story of Tamika Catchings and the 1997-98 Tennessee Lady Vols. The hour-long documentary premieres on Thursday, June 23 – the 50th anniversary of Title IX – at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

The ranking member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee announced Friday that he sent a letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert seeking answers about how the association promotes Title IX compliance among its member schools. The letter from Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is likely to be the first in a series of efforts by politicians to bring attention to the 50th anniversary of the gender equity law, which falls on Thursday. Other members of Congress are scheduled to participate in a range of anniversary events next week.

Title IX is always on Candice Storey Lee's mind and the Vanderbilt athletics director believes that's how it should be for any administrator running college programs. "I would hope that's part of our DNA and that it is seen in how we make decisions on a day-to-day basis," Lee said. By most accounts, it is. It certainly was during the height of the covid-19 pandemic. At times, Title IX was at the forefront of decisions by ADs. When schools examined which programs might be cut to save money as the spread of the virus shut down the sports world in 2020, the law prohibiting sex-based discrimination was a major factor.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- When Billie Jean King took on Bobby Riggs in their infamous "battle of the sexes" tennis match, there was plenty to consider. The $100,000 prize. The TV audience, which was estimated to number 90 million. The chance to strike a major blow in the fight for equality between men and women in sports.

The U.S. Department of Education is responsible for enforcing Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding, gives women the equal opportunity to play sports and forces schools to address issues of sexual violence and harassment.

For many high school students, sports provide a much-needed outlet, teach lifelong skills and open doors to future opportunities. Next week marks 50 years since Title IX helped level the playing field for female athletes nationwide, expanding their access to these benefits. But in many local high schools, girls -- and particularly girls of color -- still face barriers to equality.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Some of the giants of women’s basketball say if not for Title IX, doors would not have been open for them to blaze trails to Hall of Fame careers on and off the court, but sound complacency alarms when it comes to the future of the law. Coach Marsha Sharp takes it a step farther when talking about the significance of Title IX.

The notification that San Diego State was cutting its women's rowing program was delivered, like most bad news in 2020, in a Zoom meeting. Madison Fisk sat at a desk in her bedroom in the off-campus house she shared with several teammates in November 2020 and listened to her coach explain that their scholarships -- if they had them -- would still be honored, but there would be no team for her senior season.

A crowd of 9,627 fans cheered as the Indiana University women's basketball team, sporting its classic cream-and-crimson uniforms, took the court at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for its second-round NCAA Tournament game in March. IU's roster featured domestic and international scholarship players who had been playing hoops since they were children.

By CLAIRE KUWANA  When Title IX was passed 50 years ago, there wasn’t a single mention of “sports” or “athletics” anywhere in the bill. The focus […]

When Title IX of the Education Amendments was signed into law on June 23, 1972, the text of the legislation said, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

The NCAA Inclusion Forum returns in 2022, bringing together administrators, coaches and student-athletes from member schools around this year’s theme of “It’s Time: Delivering on Diversity, […]

By WORDINBLACK.COM (WIB) – Each year, the NCAA awards 28% of its annual revenue distribution, which comes to more than $160 million—based on Division I men’s […]

By Steve Politi The news that the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team finally won its decades-long battle to receive equal pay as their male counterparts reached […]

For women of my generation, born a decade or more after Title IX was passed, the law had an almost mythical air. I often heard it referred to vaguely to explain why every girl I knew played some kind of sport. I doubt whether anyone my age could quote or explain Title IX, but there was a sense that at some point before us, something had changed that allowed all of us to play sports in ways our mothers mostly hadn’t.

While he was breaking NBA records and leading the Warriors to their sixth trip to the Western Conference Finals in eight years, Steph Curry was also doing some homework in his free time.

Friday is opening day for the WNBA and yet the dominant part of the conversation leading up to the games was not about the games themselves. Instead, it was about the players who won’t be playing in them. Every single year there are cuts in the WNBA that just catch you off guard. Players that don’t feel like they should be without a team just sitting on the market when the season starts.

Before 1972, girls and women who played sports had little expectation of gender equity. Most weren’t allowed to cross the half-court line in basketball. They made their own clothes and ran in makeshift shoes. They fought their administrations for access to equipment, transportation and locker rooms. Now, 50 years after the passing of Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in any educational institution receiving federal funding, women athletes have more opportunity than ever.

“In Their Court,” an NBC Sports and NBC News podcast that launched Monday, examines the evolution of Title IX through women’s basketball, 50 years after the historic law passed.

In July 1972, armed with newly enacted Title IX legislation and boxes of bright yellow buttons with clever complementing slogans, a young Margaret Dunkle set about her new role in Washington, D.C., as a researcher with Association of American College’s Project on the Status and Education of Women.

The WNBA season begins Friday, and teams have finalized their rosters ahead of the opening tipoff. Of the 36 rookies selected in this year’s draft, 17 have made opening day rosters – including 10 of the players drafted in the first round. Two undrafted rookies in Maryland’s Katie Benzan and Arizona’s Sam Thomas also made the cut.

On this, the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark gender equality legislation, Margaret Dunkle remembers thinking that the hard work was behind them once the law had passed. Ms. Dunkle, who played a key role in ensuring that Title 1X was an effective force for change in schools and colleges, said she “originally thought the evolution was going to be quicker and easier and less dramatic.

I am not a lawyer, and I am not a diplomat. I am not a war strategist. Nor am I an international relations academic. I do not know the right path forward through Brittney Griner’s arrest and her developing situation in Russia. What I do know is why Brittney Griner was in Russia in the first place, and it’s much more complex than just playing a basketball game.

Traveling during spring break is common for many UCLA students. It’s a time for them to vacation, visit family and friends or simply relax before the start of a new quarter. But in the case of one specific group of Bruins, their travel during break proved just the opposite. While other students concluded their final exams, members of UCLA women’s basketball were preparing to begin their run in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, which would last throughout the break. After two wins at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins were forced to hit the road for the ensuing rounds despite presumably being a top seed in their group – though the WNIT has no official seedings for the teams.

Dawn Staley and her South Carolina Gamecocks won the 2022 NCAA title in dominant fashion. And 4.85 million people tuned in to watch the Gamecocks hoist their program's second championship trophy. South Carolina never trailed en route to a 64-49 win against Geno Auriemma's UConn Huskies, but even despite airing at the same time as the 2022 Grammys, the battle of two women's college basketball powerhouses drew in more viewers than any other title game in nearly two decades.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Anyone can find a bar that shows men’s sports, but Jenny Nguyen wanted to change that when she opened a bar in Portland, Oregon, that only shows women’s sports. "The Sports Bra" opened its doors this month in Northeast Portland with a "mission to make great food and delicious drinks, and provide a space that supports, empowers, and promotes girls and women in sports and in the community."

The NCAA has traditionally hosted the men’s and women’s Final Fours in different cities, but that setup has been called into question because of gender equity issues. In 2013, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman suggested hosting both Final Fours in the same city in a white paper — though the NCAA largely ignored the idea. But after last year’s report by Kaplan Hecker & Fink agreed, the NCAA finally commissioned a formal review. The Kaplan report said the idea could increase ticket sales, enhance media coverage, and ensure an equitable experience given the NCAA’s problematic corporate sponsorship program. Two potential concerns, per the papers: the logistical hurdle of finding a host city for such a large event, and fears of the women’s tournament being “overshadowed.” Women’s Basketball Coaches Association executive director Danielle Donehew told Front Office Sports that many women’s coaches echoed the latter concern, with only 55% supporting the idea.

During her 28 years as a college basketball head coach, Joanne P. McCallie often had to push her bosses to provide more for her women’s teams. She would look at the men’s basketball programs where she worked and see the inequities: higher salaries for the coaches, a larger travel budget, newer uniforms, better training and support resources. Sometimes, McCallie said, she had to “look at other jobs” to get the attention of her administration. It happened during her eight years at the University of Maine, and it happened during her 13 years at Duke University. Once she showed she was thinking of leaving, increases in salaries or resources usually followed.

BROOKINGS, SD — South Dakota State started out flexing all the options on its deep roster of shooters, taking 22-point halftime lead and rolling on to the 2022 Postseason WNIT championship in front of a sellout crowd of 5,263 fans at Frost Arena. The Jackrabbits (29-9) found their rhythm early, working the ball inside and out, while also playing impressive defense that held the Pirates (24-13) to 27 percent shooting from the field overall. South Dakota State also worked its way to a huge advantage in rebounds, leading that stat, 57-32.

When UCLA junior guard Charisma Osborne scored 31 points during a win at Oregon State that vaulted the Bruins into the WNIT Final Four, it locked in another costly, grueling day of travel. After 13 hours of travel to get to Brookings, S.D., funded by UCLA, she wasn’t going to let the moment pass without pointing out the inequity of the WNIT that gets far less financial support than the men’s NIT. “Just talking with the team, I think it’s important to just bring awareness,” she said before the Bruins played South Dakota State. “So that people in the future can have better opportunities than what we have right now.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The NCAA’s most celebrated weekend of the year, the Final Four, is coming with a wave of congressional movement. Three Democratic House members are introducing a bill that would create a 16-member congressional commission to investigate gender equity within the NCAA’s operation of tournaments, championships and other programs that have both men’s and women’s divisions. The Gender Equity in College Sports Commission Act calls for the commission to present a final report 12 to 18 months after establishment, along with policy recommendations the NCAA should adopt to promote equity between men’s and women’s programs as well as reforms Congress should consider to improve oversight of gender equity across the NCAA.

Saturday afternoon will see Turner Sports premiere a new documentary Title IX: 37 Words That Changed America, with that airing on TBS at 1 p.m. ET. That documentary explores the social and cultural impact of 1972’s Title IX legislation through the eyes of Turner NBA and NCAA analyst Candace Parker, who is an executive producer on the project ( a collaboration between her Baby Hair Productions company, Scout Productions, and Turner Sports). In a media call this week, Parker talked about how she pitched this project to Turner, how it’s the first project for her company, and why she cares about this topic. “This is a passion project,” Parker said. “I remember back when I was in eighth grade and I did a paper on Title IX, and ever since then, it’s been of interest to me. And going to the University of Tennessee and literally playing for a pioneer of Title IX [legendary coach Pat Summitt], I got my fair share of lessons from it. And the biggest thing I got from it is the opportunity.”

(AP) — The phrase “March Madness” is everywhere this women’s NCAA Tournament. On scoreboards in place of team names during practices. Scrolling on video ribbon boards. On banners inside the arenas. On the courts themselves with a bit of TV magic through the first two rounds. On hats given to both women and men with swag boxes that are equal for both men’s and women’s players this spring after an uproar at the tourney a year ago. MARCH MADNESS: 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Schedule, Bracket and Scores It’s a start. It’s also not enough for the coaches and players — and presumably the NCAA. Growing women’s basketball is more than logos, gifts and an equal number of teams, now 68 for both for the first time. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has an idea the NCAA can implement immediately to really help women close the gap with the men.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma spoke ahead of the Huskies' Final Four matchup against Stanford. When asked about the gap between men's and women's college sports, Geno is happy with the financial support he gets from the school, but he still sees discrepancies in the NCAA Tournaments.

The phrase “March Madness” is everywhere this women's NCAA Tournament. On scoreboards in place of team names during practices. Scrolling on video ribbon boards. On banners inside the arenas. On the courts themselves with a bit of TV magic through the first two rounds. On hats given to both women and men with swag boxes that are equal for both men's and women's players this spring after an uproar at the tourney a year ago. It's a start. It's also not enough for the coaches and players — and presumably the NCAA. Growing women's basketball is more than logos, gifts and an equal number of teams, now 68 for both for the first time. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has an idea the NCAA can implement immediately to really help women close the gap with the men. “The units,” Staley explained, meaning money. “Like men’s basketball, they get units, and those units equal dollar signs. I would like for us to divvy it up like the 68 teams get (their money) divvied up once the tournament ends.”

ATON ROUGE, La. — The Pete Maravich Assembly Center has spent 50 years seeing commencements and concerts, presidential power and a governor’s prayer rally. It was not until this past weekend, though, that it came within about five minutes of hosting the second-biggest upset in the history of the N.C.A.A. women’s basketball tournament. Then the No. 3 seed Louisiana State surged, 14th-seeded Jackson State sputtered and the tournament, long derided as something of a predictable spectacle, went on apace. But the Southern drama — and the theatrics that emerged elsewhere, in places like Iowa City and College Park, Md. — showed how the competition can yield stunners, near misses and, as expected, mostly unchecked and unchallenged marches by the sport’s elite toward next month’s Final Four.

John Cook has seen the future of women's athletics. Never mind, for now, the four national championships he has won as Nebraska's volleyball coach, making it possibly the most successful at an athletic department that has ridden football excellence for decades. That future was revealed to him decades ago as a high school coach in San Diego. To continue coaching football at Francis Parker School -- a college preparatory institution -- Cook had to become a full-time teacher. To do that, he agreed to coach girl's volleyball, basketball and softball "doing everything".

A year after the bubble tournaments that exposed the gaps between the men’s and women’s competitions, advocates and NCAA administrators still disagree about what needs to change. he NCAA has a list of everything that will be different about the Division I women’s basketball tournament this year. It’s the smallest entries on the list that are the most remarkable.

Gender inequity isn’t new in NCAA basketball — or the rest of the sports industry, for that matter.  But the disparities between last year’s two Division I basketball tournament semi-bubbles were so stark, they drew outrage from federal lawmakers, professional athletes, brands, and media outlets — not to mention players and coaches themselves.  In the aftermath, an extensive report commissioned by the NCAA found inequity is “baked into the very fabric of the tournaments.” Conducted by Kaplan Hecker & Fink, it found that revenue distribution, contracts, and even the culture “prioritize Division I men’s basketball over everything else.” Despite this, women’s basketball has grown exponentially. Ratings have skyrocketed. ESPN sold out advertising and sponsorship inventory for the 2022 tournament faster than ever, ESPN coordinating producer Patricia Lowry told Front Office Sports. On-the-ground sponsorship activations have increased. Even the ESPN women’s bracket challenge participation has risen.

By Reem Abdalazem In attempts to bridge gender equity gaps, the NCAA has included the 2022 women’s college basketball championship in March Madness for the first […]

By Lois Elfman While no one can deny the progress that women’s sports have made since Title IX became law in June 1972, the stark reality […]

On Jan. 30, Kelsey Ransom’s phone started blowing up as she walked into McDonough Arena for basketball practice. When she opened her phone, the standout sophomore guard saw a screenshot one of her teammates sent in their group chat of a Hoya sports Twitter fan page. The Tweet announced that the University would allow students to attend the men’s basketball game against St. John’s at McDonough on Feb. 3. The Hoyas’ men’s basketball team has been playing all of their games in Capital One Arena in front of thousands of fans all season, including at the beginning of this spring semester when all on-campus, in-person events were moved to a virtual environment, postponed, or canceled.

At the prime-time Friday night basketball game, hype songs blare from the gymnasium speakers, opposing coaches greet each other in preparation, and players excitedly take the court, ready to play. But, the strange thing is, the bleachers at this game are virtually empty besides a spattering of parents and maybe a front row full in the student section. Sadly, this scene isn’t really that strange for the Souhegan women’s basketball team. It actually isn’t even unexpected. As Souhegan men’s basketball games fill with bustling crowds and a cramped student section, the women’s team is shocked to see a half-full gym, even when playing their rival teams

The first of three top 16 rankings reveals from the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee has been announced. South Carolina, Stanford, NC State and Tennessee […]

Male athletes are leading the way six months after the NCAA cleared the way for college athletes to earn money on their celebrity. They lead in […]

The glaring inequity in the NCAA’s investment in its Division I men’s and women’s basketball championships had hidden in plain sight for decades — until it exploded into the public consciousness via photos shared on social media of a single dumbbell rack and stack of yoga mats that passed for training equipment in the 2021 women’s tournament bubble. NCAA President Mark Emmert apologized and promised to do better. But the deep-seated disparities highlighted by players and coaches in everything from marketing to athletes’ meals and amenities aren’t likely to be remedied overnight. The NCAA took another incremental step in narrowing the gap last week by unveiling comparable social media handles and hashtags, @MFinalFour and @WFinalFour, to supplant the longstanding @FinalFour that was exclusive to men. They complement recently redesigned logos that underscore the fact that, starting with the 2022 championships, there won’t be just one NCAA Final Four but an NCAA Men’s Final Four and an NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Here is the complete 2022 March Madness schedule for the NCAA women's basketball tournament, which begins with Selection Sunday on Sunday, March 13. First Four games will be played Wednesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 17 at top-16 seeds. First- and second-round games will be played Friday, March 18, through Monday, March 21, at top-16 seeds. Regionals are Friday, March 25, through Monday, March 28, in Connecticut, North Carolina, Washington and Kansas. The Sweet 16 will be played March 25-26, followed by the Elite Eight from March 27-28. The Women's Final Four is Friday, April 1, and the national championship game is Sunday, April 3 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

Since NCAA athletes got the rights to their names, images, and likenesses on July 1, there’s been a whirlwind of activity from athletes, brands, schools, donors, and alumni. Six months in, the industry is still fresh — with several remaining uncertainties. But there’s one clear takeaway: Thousands of athletes are now at least a little bit richer.

The NCAA has changed its Final Four logos and basketball tournament social media channels. It's a seemingly small change that might have a big impact on the continued effort to equalize the men's and women's games. Getting both tournaments equal branding has long been a goal of advocates for women's athletics. “If you're going to make them separate, then make sure that the marketing for both tournaments is equal and fair,” IU women's basketball coach Teri Moren told IndyStar in November. “If you're not going to do that, then you’ve got to bring us together, because to do that for one and not the other is wrong. Our women deserve that.” The men's and women's Final Four each have their own logo now, as well as their own Twitter handle. Previously, there was only one Twitter account (@FinalFour) which branded itself as the "official" handle for the tournament and only tweeted about men's games.

Dr. Christine Grant — who shaped, defined, defended and championed Title IX and women’s collegiate athletics for nearly 50 years as an administrator — died Friday at age 85, Iowa confirm. A founding member of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, Grant served as its president. She later became president of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators. But she was best known as a pioneer and advocate for Title IX, a federal law that demands equal opportunity for men and women who participate in educational programs or activities that receive federal funding. Grant testified multiple times before the U.S. House of Representatives on Title IX and gender equity. She provided expert testimony on Title IX in legal disputes and trials. Grant was also an expert consultant to the Health, Education and Welfare Office for Civil Rights’ Title IX Task Force. “The law is only about fairness,” Grant said on an NCAA video for Title IX’s 40th anniversary in 2012. “That’s all it’s about.

Bill Laimbeer has coached the Aces to a 77-45 record the past four seasons, losing in the WNBA semifinals in 2019 and 2021 and the WNBA Finals in 2020. While it's not clear at this point what role, if any, Laimbeer will have with the franchise, he has set a very good foundation for the Aces. Can Hammon get them across the finish line to a championship?

The NCAA will pay basketball officials for the women’s tournament the same amount it pays the officials for the men’s competition. “The national office continues to prioritize gender equity and has taken steps to correct the disparity of pay for officials selected to work the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships,” the NCAA said in a statement. “All basketball officials, regardless of the gender of sport participants, will be receiving equal pay for championship games officiated in 2022 and beyond.” Gender equality in college basketball returned to the forefront last season after the NCAA failed to provide similar amenities to the teams in the men’s and women’s Division I tournaments. The NCAA commissioned the Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP law firm to create a gender equity report last summer. The firm issued a 113-page document that had a series of recommendations for changes in the women’s tournament that included expanding the field to 68 teams and using the phrase “March Madness.”

Considerable discussion about gender equity in college sports took place at this year’s Sports Business Journal Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum. An animated panel titled, "The Economics of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion," focused on the economic cost of ignoring DEI issues and the positive impact of embracing them. Moderated by Dr. China Jude, vice president, DEI, Denver Broncos, previously a senior athletic administrator at Queens College and the University of Wyoming, panelists discussed the economics integrally connected to DEI work. Jude asked Sean Frazier, associate vice president and athletic director at Northern Illinois University, about revenue generation and target markets, specifically for underrepresented populations.

Sedona Prince started it this year with an uncomfortable truth. The Oregon basketball player, famous for a TikTok video earlier this year that pointed out the discrepancy between the workout palace provided at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the meager triangle of dumbbells for the women, has made it safe to point out the obvious. This time, WNBA Liberty player by way of Oregon, Sabrina Ionescu, took a stroll through major sports media outlets looking for NCAA women’s basketball coverage and presents her findings: the equivalent of a workout palace for the men’s coverage and for the women? You already know the answer.

The Division I Council approved an expansion of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship bracket from 64 to 68 teams, effective with the 2022 championship. "This immediate expansion of the women's basketball championship reinforces the fact that leaders within Division I are committed to strengthening aspects of the women's basketball championship that directly impact student-athletes," said Council chair Shane Lyons, athletics director at West Virginia. "We look forward to the positive change this will have for the student experience at the championship, especially as it relates to equal team opportunities to compete in the tournament." Both the Division I Women's Basketball Committee and the Division I Women's Basketball Oversight Committee supported the expansion, which brings participation opportunities for the women's tournament in line with the men's event.

The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will use March Madness marketing and branding beginning with the 2022 tournament, which culminates with the Women's Final Four on April 1-3 in Minneapolis. That was one of the recommendations from a comprehensive external review of gender equity issues in connection with NCAA championships, including issues that arose during the 2021 Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships.

A viral video of the makeshift weight rooms at this year's NCAA March Madness tournament, posted by University of Oregon's Sedona Prince, gained national attention for encapsulating the gender disparity that exists between men's and women's sports. The dumbbells -- or lack thereof -- represented a heavy truth for female athletes in the United States. Both the US women's national teams in hockey and soccer have fought for increases in wages and equitable treatment, arguing that the value they bring to global events like the Olympics and world championships isn't being fairly compensated. In 2017, members of the women's hockey team reached a landmark four-year deal with USA Hockey after threatening a boycott.

Mark Emmert is now the second-longest tenured leader in the long history of the NCAA. INDIANAPOLIS -- A dry erase board stuck to the wall behind the door to Mark Emmert's office at NCAA headquarters has three columns drawn on it. At the top of the list on the left, “Academic Success” is handwritten in green marker. The middle column is for “Health & Well Being.” On the right is “Fairness.” Jotted down under each header are policy goals and initiatives the NCAA has worked to achieve during Emmert’s 11-year tenure leading the nation's largest governing body for college sports.

The long-awaited NCAA gender equity review, conducted by an outside law firm, was released on Tuesday. The investigation, which launched in the wake of widespread criticism of inadequate facilities and amenities at the 2021 women’s basketball championship, revealed that the NCAA has fallen short of upholding its commitment to gender equity. As a result, the review called for the NCAA to conduct annual assessments for the next five years that will track their progress on gender equity. Here are the three most eye-opening findings from the investigation into the NCAA’s inequities, prepared by civil rights attorney Roberta A. Kaplan of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP.

"We didn't have the time to do this."  It's one simple line that's felt throughout the entirety of a 118-page gender equity review of the NCAA's approach to the men's and women's basketball championships. It's used 19 pages in to explain the weight room controversy that led the organization here in the first place and is felt often in the report released Tuesday by Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP.

Last season, Kelly Graves went to the women's NCAA tournament as a coach, and the men's tournament as a proud dad and fan. The contrasts he noticed weren't just because of his different points of view. And in the wake of Tuesday's release of the NCAA's commissioned report on gender equity focusing on the disparity between the two tournaments, Graves' observations were on point. "There was more of a feeling of a tournament in Indianapolis," said Graves, the Oregon women's college basketball coach whose son, Will, played for Gonzaga's men's team. "It just seemed like a much bigger deal there than in San Antonio."

The NCAA prioritized men's basketball "over everything else in ways that create, normalize and perpetuate gender inequities," according to a report published Tuesday following an external review of the organization's approach to men's and women's sports. The review, which was prepared by civil rights attorney Roberta A. Kaplan of the New York-based law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, focused on inequities in basketball, after players and coaches roundly criticized the NCAA in March for inadequate facilities and amenities at the women's NCAA Tournament in San Antonio.

The NCAA has undervalued its annual women’s basketball tournament by tens of millions of dollars and should overhaul how it operates and sells rights to the event, according to a critical report by a law firm the NCAA hired to analyze gender inequities in its championships. The NCAA’s broadcast agreements, corporate sponsorships, revenue distribution, organizational structure and culture “all prioritize Division I men’s basketball over everything else in ways that create, normalize, and perpetuate gender inequities,” according to the 118-page report prepared by the law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLC.

"The primary reason, we believe, is that the gender inequities at the NCAA—and specifically within the NCAA Division I basketball championships—stem from the structure and systems of the NCAA itself, which are designed to maximize the value of and support to the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship as the primary source of funding for the NCAA and its membership," the report reads.

“The Kaplan Hecker report commissioned by the NCAA and released today validates gender equity concerns that have been voiced by the WBCA’s community of coaches since the NCAA’s management of women’s and men’s basketball championships came under public scrutiny in March. We thank the law firm of Kaplan Hecker and Fink LLC for its thorough review of this matter and this extensive report.

A law firm hired to investigate gender equity concerns at NCAA championship events released a blistering report Tuesday that recommended holding the men's and women's Final Fours at the same site and offering financial incentives to schools to improve their women's basketball programs. The review by Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP had been highly anticipated. The firm was hired in March after the NCAA failed to provide equal amenities to the teams in the men's and women's Division I basketball tournaments, a situation that blew up on social media amid player complaints and prompted apologies from NCAA executives including President Mark Emmert.

The governing body of college sports ordered an investigation in response to outrage over disparities between its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The N.C.A.A.’s financial dependence on its Division I men’s basketball tournament has long fueled gender inequity in college sports, investigators said in a report on Tuesday, when they challenged the association to overhaul its approach to two of the most celebrated events in American athletics.

Statement of Women’s Basketball Coaches Association President Cori Close, head coach, UCLA, regarding the report of Kaplan Hecker and Fink LLC from its gender equity review of NCAA women’s and men’s basketball programs.

ATLANTA (July 14, 2021) — The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association today released a video featuring University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, and Stanford University head coach Tara Vanderveer in which they renew the WBCA’s call on behalf of its member coaches for gender equity in basketball.

Basketball star Kara Lawson and golfer Stacy Lewis offer insights for anyone vying for gender equity in the sports and entertainment industries. Women know the feeling of “crunch time,” whatever field they’re in. Two champion athletes who have faced that pressure have some advice for women: To succeed, look to your supporters, not your doubters.

South Carolina's Dawn Staley and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer on Tuesday called for Congressional involvement regarding the NCAA's treatment of its tournaments for women's sports, including basketball, in the wake of allegations of gender inequity. In a videoconference call with several members of the Democratic Women's Caucus, both coaches spoke about the differences specifically between the men's (Indianapolis) and women's (San Antonio) basketball tournaments that received criticism this spring.

Everyone saw how blatantly unfair it was for the women’s basketball teams in the NCAA tournament to have one tiny stack of weights and a couple of yoga mats whereas men’s basketball teams had an entire weight room complex. The uproar was quick and effective as the NCAA apologized, dashed to equalize the weight rooms, and enlightened companies like Dick’s Sporting Goods trucked loads of equipment to Texas for the female players to use.

From highly-publicized incidents of gender disparity in the 2021 college basketball postseason to the launch of an independent review of NCAA championship operations, the topic of gender equity has come to the forefront of college basketball. In this WBCA-NABC Coaches Forum, learn how specific inequalities are currently being addressed and how women’s and men’s programs can support and advocate for one another on campus.

LeBron James and Steph Curry are household names and brand magnates, but Diana Taurasi and A’ja Wilson haven’t quite reached that level. That’s despite being, respectively, the W.N.B.A.’s career top scorer and reigning MVP. And it’s despite the average viewership for the 2020 women’s basketball finals shooting up 15 percent from the previous year — while the men’s finals saw a 49 percent drop.

Unfortunately, nothing, yet this is not even about that. Not exactly. It’s about what the PA announcer said after a third out and before a new half frame was to begin. He invited all the fans in attendance to not wait to buy their tickets to the 2022 Women’s College World Series, taking place June 2-8 of next year.

Join us to talk about Gender Equity in College Basketball! The WBCA and NABC will be speaking on how men’s and women’s teams can support each other on and off the court. Gender equity has become a prominent topic in college athletics and we look forward to hearing the strategy that will help create a difference. Thursday, June 17th at 2 p.m. ET Open to everyone!

University of Michigan head softball coach Carol Hutchins talks to Kendis Gibson and Lindsey Reiser on the glaring equality gap between men's and women's sports, including the strenuous schedule of softball teams during the Women's College World Series this week.

When Sedona Prince arrived in San Antonio in March for her first N.C.A.A. women’s basketball tournament, she was grateful just to be playing again after a long recovery from an injury. But then Prince, who was a redshirt sophomore at the University of Oregon last season, noticed something that troubled her: striking differences between the weight room setups, meals and coronavirus testing available at the women’s tournament versus the men’s, which was occurring simultaneously in the Indianapolis area.

Michael Jordan, the greatest player to ever bounce a basketball, stood up from his seat at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s enshrinement ceremony, took Kim Mulkey’s hand and guided her up the steps. It was time for Mulkey to accept her induction into the hall. 

Companies including AT&T Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and others together pay more than $200 million every year to associate their brands with the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Their sponsorship fees give them the exclusive right to associate with 90 NCAA sports championships. Yet the big sponsorship dollars aren’t helping any of the sports except one—Division I men’s basketball—prove the commercial worth of their championship events and attract new investment that could expand their audiences.

“We thank the members of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee for today’s meeting and hope that more will follow. The meeting was constructive; we appreciated the opportunity to outline the issues the WBCA believes must be addressed by the Kaplan Hecker & Fink external equity review. We reiterate our commitment to working collaboratively with the NCAA to address the inequities in college basketball.”

On the heels of an NCAA tournament that went viral for both the right and wrong reasons, players and coaches are pushing to get the women's game the visibility it deserves.

WBCA executive director Danielle Donehew said the special meeting between the WBCA and the Division I Women's Basketball Oversight Committee on Monday was positive but only the first step in bringing much-needed change to the sport.

Women's sport in the UK has the ability to generate £1bn in annual revenue by 2030 but needs the visibility to succeed, according to a new study.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Executive Committee will meet with the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee on Monday, April 19, to address inequities between the NCAA’s governance and administration of women’s and men’s versions of the sport.

The Women's Basketball Coaches Association will have a special meeting with the Division I Women's Basketball Oversight Committee on April 19 to discuss the inequities between this year's men's and women's tournaments, in addition to the external review the NCAA ordered last month.

Oregon forward Sedona Prince has arguably done more to advance women’s sports this March than the NCAA has done in decades. On March 18, the redshirt sophomore posted a video on TikTok and Twitter of the “weight room” the women competing in San Antonio were provided for their national basketball tournament—a tiny rack of dumbbells.

The recent controversy surrounding disparity in facilities and accommodations between the NCAA’s men’s and women’s basketball championships serves to underscore the inequity and downright absurdity in the funding of all college sports.

The women’s basketball players of Immaculata often washed their own uniforms. They flew standby to save money, and sold pencils and toothbrushes to finance travel costs to their first national tournament. A collection of pail-pounding nuns made up a raucous cheering section. But the tiny Catholic school outside Philadelphia dominated women’s college basketball in the early 1970s.

In 2013, Val Ackerman compiled an exhaustive report on the state of women's basketball for the NCAA. Known as the "Division I Women's Basketball White Paper," the account was filled with concerns from those she interviewed over a span of six months and detailed recommendations to market and usher the sport into 2020.

A WATE 6 News interview with the U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, who wrote a letter to the NCAA seeking answers about basketball tournament inequalities.

Besides the unprecedented appearance of two Black head coaches in the women’s Final Four, we can also celebrate the academic excellence of Black players off the court in my 24th annual review of graduation rates for March Madness teams. South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley runs a program that possesses a 93% Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for its Black players.

It’s been a strenuous year for student-athletes across the nation. Canceled games, seasons, and in-person practices. This year is the first time since 2019 all 68 college teams came together for the NCAA men’s tournament and 64 teams for the women's tournament. Each bubble in Indianapolis and San Antonio had to adhere to a long list of restrictions, including daily testing and isolation within each team. Not only did the tournament take an extreme amount of effort to pull off, but it also became controversial.

Shock. Outrage. Indignation. Those were just some of the reactions to the stark resource differences between this year’s NCAA Women’s and Men’s Basketball Championships. These reactions and the ensuing criticism came from student-athletes, coaches, administrators, commissioners and the general public—even those who do not follow sports. It was that kind of story.

Never again let someone from the NCAA call women’s basketball or any other sport a “cost.” Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers is not a cost. She is the entire damn point. The real cost, the real burden in this iniquitous, contemptible system is the legion of skimmers and coasters led by the devious do-nothing NCAA president Mark Emmert and his board of governors cronies.

During a meeting of women’s basketball coaches with NCAA President Mark Emmert on Wednesday, Georgia Tech Coach Nell Fortner issued a plea. Instead of treating her sport like a cost to minimize, the NCAA should see it the way so many others increasingly do: as an opportunity for growth.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association sent a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert stating the external review he announced after disparities surfaced between the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments was “insufficient to meet the needs of the WBCA’s member coaches.”

NCAA President Mark Emmert promised the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association he will work with coaches to fix the “stark difference” between the Division I men’s and women’s tournaments.

Female athletes are speaking up about the unfairness between women and men sports more for the past decade. The latest issue has been how the NCAA treats women’s and men’s basketball teams at March Madness.

Upon their arrival to the women’s NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, the top women’s college basketball players in the country saw amenities and accommodations that were grossly unequal compared to those offered to their male counterparts at the men’s tournament in Indianapolis.

NCAA President Mark Emmert promised the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association he will work with coaches to fix the “stark difference” between the Division I men’s and women’s tournaments.

Iowa's Caitlin Clark has made an impact that goes far beyond the sweet-16 Hawkeye basketball team. The 6-foot freshman set the college basketball world on fire over the last month with her jaw-dropping step-back threes, dribble drives to the hoop, out of this world passing and has emerged as one of the faces of the sport.

As the dust of the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments settles this weekend, there’s one thing The Phoenix Editorial Board must mention — the problematic difference in how the NCAA treats its men’s and women’s student-athletes. 

The last gasp of NCAA president Mark Emmert’s apology tour started Wednesday morning in a news conference before the women’s Final Four end ended on a Zoom call with Division I women’s basketball coaches that was supposed to be private.

NCAA president Mark Emmert on Wednesday continued to apologize for the inequities between the men's and women's basketball tournaments that were exposed earlier this month, conceding, "we let them down," but he added that the women's basketball community has to determine specific improvements it wants to "pick up and run with" as the sport moves forward.

Wednesday’s session came as college sports leaders struggled to move past disparities that sometimes seemed to overshadow games.

On March 20, NCAA women’s basketball players and staff drew public attention to the wide dis-parities between the men’s and women’s basketball teams at the women’s March Madness basketball tournament in San Antonio.