Sedona Prince's college journey reaches its final year and she hopes to leave a mark on the court

Sedona Prince is opening her seventh and last twelvemonth of assemblage basketball. From her viral video backmost successful nan NCAA Tournament bubble successful 2021 to her domiciled successful a landmark antitrust suit that will thief get money for assemblage athletes, she has already near her people disconnected nan court.

If she tin thief TCU person a memorable play connected nan court, it will beryllium a invited bonus.

Now 24, Prince was 1 of nan lead plaintiffs successful nan House vs. NCAA suit that led to nan $2.8 cardinal NCAA colony statement that precocious received preliminary support from a national judge. When it's yet done, nan statement will let colleges to straight salary their athletes, possibly arsenic early arsenic adjacent fall. It besides includes millions successful damages.

“It’s a large win, thing we’ve been trying for, for a agelong time," Prince said successful a question and reply pinch The Associated Press. “Major measurement forward. There's a batch to beryllium done going forward. It's much than we ever could person asked for and a measurement successful nan correct direction.”

It’s been rather nan travel for Prince, whose profession started successful 2018 pinch Texas earlier she near for Oregon after breaking her limb playing for USA Basketball.

She was pinch nan Ducks successful March 2021 erstwhile her societal media video went viral for exposing nan disparities betwixt nan weight room for nan women astatine nan NCAA Tournament bubble vs. nan 1 nan men had, arsenic good arsenic differences successful nan food. The video embarrassed tourney organizers and prompted apologies — The New York Times a twelvemonth later called it "The Video That Changed nan N.C.A.A." — and it prompted changes crossed women’s basketball.

“Making those changes is unthinkable and I dream it continues to beryllium that way, and not conscionable from a monolithic scandal, and a subordinate exposing them connected a nationalist stage,” Prince told AP successful nan aftermath. “Things shouldn’t beryllium fixed that way.”

More than 3 years later, Prince tin look backmost astatine nan uproar pinch discourse connected nan changes she helped drive.

“The weight room video worldly was insane, thing I wouldn’t person expected arsenic a 20-year aged kid,” Prince said.

She was moreover younger successful June 2020 erstwhile she and erstwhile Arizona State swimmer Grant House became nan lead plaintiffs successful nan landmark antitrust suit against nan NCAA and nan 5 biggest conferences successful nan country. Their superior extremity was to propulsion retired nan rules against athletes earning money based connected nan usage of their names, images aliases likenesses — and a twelvemonth later, nan NCAA cleared nan measurement for the NIL era successful assemblage athletics.

“I didn’t cognize that this suit would use successful immoderate capacity of financial summation for anyone," she says now. "My biggest extremity was to create change. When I wasn’t playing, I started to create my societal media level and it started to summation traction, I knew past I could beryllium a personification to create this change, particularly from nan position I was in.”

“I was approached to go a plaintiff successful nan lawsuit," she added. “I knowledgeable myself connected what NIL meant, what it is, really it could help, dove heavy into this peculiar speech and I agreed to go a plaintiff.”

Prince was besides portion of a national suit on pinch Duke shot subordinate Dewayne Carter and Stanford shot subordinate Nya Harrison seeking to barroom nan NCAA from enforcing immoderate rules that prohibit jock compensation. The colony announced successful May is intended to reside those concerns.

Prince said she envisions a early wherever schools tin straight salary athletes what they are worthy — and those days look to beryllium coming up fast.

“NIL was started arsenic a overmuch different thing, now it’s morphing into a net for student-athletes,” she said. “It’s very different looking back. How I earned my NIL money was doing marque deals, now student-athletes will beryllium capable to get paid for playing for school. It’s cool to wonderment wherever it’s going to beryllium adjacent year.”

Prince spent a fewer years astatine Oregon earlier injuring her elbow and needing reconstructive surgery. The 6-foot-7 halfway later dropped retired of schoolhouse and moved to Los Angeles, figuring her assemblage profession was over.

Two weeks earlier nan 2023 WNBA draft, which she had entered, she saw that Oregon adjunct Mark Campbell had taken nan TCU caput coaching job. She called him to spot if she could play astatine nan schoolhouse a fewer hours' thrust northbound of wherever she starred arsenic precocious schoolhouse subordinate successful Liberty Hill, Texas.

After a batch of paperwork, she enrolled successful TCU, only to break a digit 14 games into past season. After surgery, she was sidelined for astir 2 months. Prince coiled up averaging 19.7 points and 9.7 rebounds complete 21 games.

“At nan extremity of nan play past twelvemonth I thought it was each over, but nan NCAA gave america a telephone telephone that you had 1 much twelvemonth left,” she said.

Prince, who has only played successful 70 games complete six years, noted that 2 redshirt seasons and an other COVID twelvemonth near her pinch 7 eligible seasons and that “finally, each nan pieces fell into spot and I’m precisely wherever I’m expected to beryllium and everything happens for a reason.”

TCU's play opener is Tuesday astatine location against Houston Christian. Prince can't wait, moreover if her bequest is already established, and she is eager to get fresh for nan adjacent WNBA draught pinch her pro profession hopes live and well.

“Being nan subordinate I want to beryllium connected nan court, I haven’t been capable to show that yet," she said. "I haven't been capable to effect nan crippled pinch my hoops play because of injuries, but disconnected nan tribunal I person been capable to boost nan game, adjacent nan spread inch by inch.”

___

Get canvass alerts and updates connected nan AP Top 25 passim nan season. Sign up here. AP women’s assemblage basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball