It's safe to say UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma would not be a fan of switching WNBA rules and allowing college players to leave after just one season like they can on the men's side.

"It depends whether you want the game to grow, or you want to kill it," Auriemma said Thursday during an interview on ESPN Radio's UnSportsmanLike (h/t Alexa Philippou of ESPN).

"If you want to kill it, then let the kids leave after freshman year. On the men's side, it's become transactional. Everybody's a free agent. Everybody's a mercenary. It's not the kids' fault. ... To me, what helped the women's game grow is the people in Iowa got to grow up with Caitlin Clark. The people of Connecticut got to grow up with all of my great players. There's something to be said for that."

Auriemma added that such a change could potentially "ruin the game."

While players can leave for the NBA just one year removed from high school on the men's side, women's players cannot enter the WNBA draft until they are within three months of graduating college or in the calendar year they turn 22.

Those rules were put in place as part of the WNBA and WNBPA's collective bargaining agreement that expires in 2027, although Philippou noted there is a mutual opt-out clause that could terminate the existing agreement following the 2025 campaign.

That opt-out clause must be exercised by Nov. 1 of this year, though, if it is going to be used.

"I don't know that our game can continue to move forward if all of a sudden our guys are gone," Auriemma said. "So I like the rule, and the players decided the rule. So if they change the rule, God bless 'em, but I think it'll ruin the game."

Auriemma is someone who benefits from the rule as the head coach of one of the sport's premier programs.

Players who come to UConn as freshmen will, in all likelihood, become better by their senior years with additional experience in the college game and familiarity with the system Auriemma runs. That will put the Huskies in a better position to compete for national championships with older and more experienced players.

Still, as Auriemma pointed out, there is something to be said about the women's game becoming more popular as fans watch and get to know the players across multiple seasons at their favorite school.

Players such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso and more helped drive record-setting television ratings this season after multiple years with the same programs, and that translated to millions of viewers for the WNBA draft when many of those familiar names were selected.

Name, image and likeness opportunities also allow those players to make money off their popularity in the college game, which eases the burden of not turning to the professional ranks from a financial side.

Yet there is also something to be said about the idea that players who are talented enough should get the chance to compete at the sport's highest level. Someone like USC's JuJu Watkins would surely be drafted after her freshman season but instead has to stay in the collegiate game for multiple years.

There is a debate to be had, but it is clear where Auriemma lands.