The Guru’s WNBA Report: A New Day Locally as Philadelphia (2030) Joins Cleveland (2028) and Detroit (2029) Landing WNBA Expansion Teams

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

So, it had gotten to that moment when it was either very deep Sunday night or very early Monday morning pending on one’s work-related lifestyle, in this case the former, and in wrapping up the WNBA roundup from a heavy slate of games and looking at various press conferences for quotes to insert, the expansion Golden State report noted celebrities among the ongoing nonstop sellout crowd of 18,000+ at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

One happened to be Philly’s own South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

Considering the time differential and the Philadelphia ongoing mention off and on in terms of the next wave of new cities, a text was contemplated to Staley asking if she thought her native town could match the ongoing attendance drawn by the Valkyries.

But yours truly decided to let it go for the moment, posted the blog, and went off to dreamland and stayed there and when returning to the world hours later was greeted on my phone and iPad with a flood of messages reacting to the news that had just been announced that indeed Philly was getting a WNBA team in 2030.

Two others are coming online in 2028 returning to Cleveland and 2029 returning to Detroit.

Already set for next season are Portland and Toronto.

Eight million thoughts zipped off the news because coming at a fortuitous time, where women’s basketball and women’s sports in general had become a thing on TV, in the stands, and with investors in the business world, a new day has arrived.

Not that history wasn’t already in place here with the Immaculata success story in the early 1970s.

Back in 1996 when the NCAA announced Philadelphia would host the 2000 Women’s Final Four, the first Eastern city to do so, a growth surge began that by the time the moment arrived, the 20,000 sellout of Wells Fargo was then the fifth best since the NCAA took over in 1982. That number today is still highly ranked at 19th.

Credential numbers set a record helped by Rutgers and Penn State advancing with the other two champion Connecticut coached by Norristown’s Geno Auriemma and Tennessee with Pat Summitt at the helm and local standout Ace Clement a Lady Vol.

Cathy Andruzzi, head of the local organizing committee, left the event with the largest budget surplus at the time.

Less than two days later Temple was finishing a successful long-shot pursuit to make Dawn Staley the Owls coach and within two seasons NCAA bids began happening.

Monday’s news brought a flood of coverage in The Inquirer and at local media outlets.

And guess what? There is no need to wait until launch time to jump on the bandwagon because there is a tremendous college this season ahead this winter.

The Big Five might be the best it’s been for the women yet considering the ongoing growth.

The following season Philly is one of the two hosts of an NCAA regional and there has been behind-the-scenes exploration of holding an MTE event as a build up and guess what?

When asked if interested, every prominent team said they would love to be here.

South Jersey’s Hanna Hidalgo will be a Notre Dame senior that year and the Irish want a homecoming.

JuJu Watkins at USC will be healthy again or should be by then.

The early WNBA expansions cost $10 million – the Philly ownership stepped to the plate with $250 million and more coming in the wars of building practice facilities and other incentives.

Money is around to be shaken loose, and your investments can make it happen by showing up at games, watch your teams on the road via streaming platforms. Watch the national events and right now start following the WNBA, not only here but through other places with ongoing daily presence like local native Howard Megdal’s The Next, Aaron Barzilai’s Her Hoops and from out in Denver Andrew Haubner’s No Cap Space.

The React

With the news public, the Inquirer has extensive comments from local coaches.

Here are few who texted:

Temple’s Diane Richardson: It’s about time. There’s been a buyers group together for the past 5 years.

La Salle’s Mountain MacGillivray: Such Big News. Agree it’s about time.

Saint Joseph’s Cindy Griffin: Let’s Go!!!! Very exciting!

Villanova’s Denise Dillon: I’m incredibly excited to see a WNBA team coming to Philadelphia. This is such a huge step for the sport and for our city — it means more opportunities for young female athletes to dream big and see their future in the game. I can’t wait to support and celebrate this new chapter for Philly basketball.

From WNBA Minnesota coach and former La Salle star Cheryl Reeve: I am very excited that a WNBA team is coming to Philadelphia in 2030.

 

 As everyone knows, Philly is renowned for its passion and energy for its sports teams. I believe it will be a tremendous market, and I love that the Philly fanbase will have the opportunity to get behind a WNBA team at such an exciting time in women’s sports. 

 

Palmyra’s Val Still, Kentucky’s all-time scorer and a former ABL star who also played in the WNBA: This is fantastic… Philly deserves a WNBA team.  Philly has the most passionate fans in the world.

 

This would not be the first time Philadelphia has had a women’s pro basketball team. In the 1920s, the Philadelphia Tribune and Ora Washington dominated WBB.

 

 And in 1998, the American Basketball League’s Philadelphia Rage and Dawn Staley made a childhood dream for me come true, after years of playing overseas, finally playing pro basketball where I was born and raised in front of family and hometown friends. This was one of my favorite moments in my basketball career. 

 

I’m hoping now the America Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball association becomes a fluid history with Dawn Staley returning as Philly WNBA Head Coach (winning championships) and a local girl from Camden, NJ who dreamed of playing for the Philadelphia 76ers but became women’s basketball pioneers paving the way for today’s superstars. 

 

Dawn and I made history in 1997 with the first ABL championship between Dawn’s Richmond Rage and my Columbus Quest. We were founders of the ABL and eventually both played in the WNBA.

 

I would love to be a part of this new chapter for women’s basketball in the greater Philadelphia area.

 

This provides us a great opportunity to respect and honor the history of women’s basketball and continue the upward trajectory of its popularity and respect. No better place than the birthplace of freedom.  You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free…For women’s basket in Philly, it’s life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! It’s a Philly thing!!!