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With Signing Day complete, there’s a full slate of women’s college basketball games on television to enjoy this season, many of them featuring Muffet McGraw’s No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. (Photo by Joe Faraoni/ ESPN Images)

Congratulations to all the young ladies who signed their National Letters of Intent this week! I know Signing Day is a momentous time for all talented athletes, boys and girls, in all sports. It might be right up there with high school graduation, and the excitement I saw on my social media feeds on Thursday was genuine.

I hope all of you have made choices that will help you grow as athletes, students and young people. You have the opportunity of a lifetime that so many strive for but never have placed before them. You have basketball talent that college coaches want, and in return you get an education and plenty of other benefits.

There’s been a lot written and said recently about players and transfers and finding the right fit in college, so I appreciate how challenging it has become to make this decision.

It was pretty cool that ESPNU televised the announcement of Megan Walker, the No. 1 senior in the country, who’s going to UConn. I understand why some coaches may not like that kind of attention given to one individual. While this is just a single player casting her lot with the most dominant program in the country, I also think it’s an important symbol of the stature that girls’ and women’s basketball has gained in recent years.

The media coverage of the sport is sensational, compared to what it was when I started writing about it in the early 1990s. Don’t let those who complain about the lack of coverage compared to the men influence you too much. It wasn’t that many years ago that ESPN showed as many games in one season as it shows on a weekend these days.

And this is the point I want to make with all of you new college signees, and high school players still involved in the recruiting process: I’d like to ask all of you to really become fans of the college women’s game, if you’re not already.

I know your high school seasons are starting soon, and you have busy lives as students and teenagers. There may be off-nights from basketball and homework that you’d rather spend with friends instead of watching more games, either in person or on TV.

But with hundreds of games available on television (and not just ESPN Networks), it’s easy to become a true fan of the game, and to keep up with what’s happening on a very deep level. The conference networks—SEC, Big Ten, Pac 12 and so many more—have their own schedule of games, both on TV and online.

I know many of you do this, and read espnW and other outlets. One of the reasons for starting Blue Star Media was to help give female hoopsters at the grassroots level more exposure.

When I was your age, there was nothing. And I mean nothing, either on television or in the newspapers. There were no scouts, no recruiting services, and barely any scholarship aid at all in the early years after Title IX was passed. There was no Signing Day.

When I was in high school, Street & Smith’s magazine started publishing a brief women’s college preview—just a few pages—but to me, it was gold. I rushed out to the news stand every November like it is now and scarfed up a copy, and memorized nearly every word.

I wasn’t much of a player—I won’t tell you about my disastrous high school tryout—but I was a fan, and remain one still. I’ve been grateful to have been able to write about girls’ and women’s basketball for so many years, as the game was growing into what you know today.

The game of female basketball is so different than when I played (six-on-six rules!), and I’m thrilled for the chances you have to play and enjoy the game.

One thing I’ve heard from high school and youth girls coaches, however, is that a good number of their players don’t watch the game. For the game to grow, that needs to change. Market research of the fan base for women’s college basketball on ESPN networks a few years ago indicated that the typical viewer was a male, aged 55 and older.

While it’s great that they’re fans, there’s so much for young players to learn from watching the best college and pro players. Yes, they inspire you and serve as important role models, but there’s never been a better time to seriously study how they go about their business.

And what incredible players there are! Kelsey Mitchell. A’ja Wilson. Brianna Turner. Diamond DeShields. Myisha Hines-Allen. Kelsey Plum. Nina Davis. Katie Lou Samuelson. Jordin Canada.

There are so many more, but whatever level you end up playing, there’s so much you can gain by watching them play at the next level. I hope many of you tuned into the Olympics and WNBA Finals, which showcased women’s basketball at its best.

Now that Signing Day is over, and with a new college season just getting started, it’s a great opportunity to become a better player by becoming a passionate fan of the game. Good luck with your seasons!

Wendy Parker is a sportswriter and web editor who has covered women's basketball since the early 1990s. She is a correspondent for Basketball Times and formerly covered women's and college sports, soccer and the Olympics at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is the author of "Beyond Title IX: The Cultural Laments of Women's Sports," available on Amazon, and the creator of Sports Biblio, a blog about sports books and history.

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