Lauren Jackson says Australia is well placed to claim the title of No.1 women's basketball nation as WNBL free agency begins and efforts ramp up to lure Liz Cambage home.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This year's WNBA season remains on hold and retired Opals great Jackson, now Australia's head of women's basketball, has been in contact with the All-Star centre about a return home from the US for a delayed November start to the WNBL campaign.
Bec Allen (New York), Alanna Smith (Phoenix) and Sami Whitcomb (Seattle) will join Las Vegas's Cambage in the crosshairs of Australian clubs ahead of next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2022 World Cup in Sydney.
Jackson helped the Opals to their only world championship in 2006, as well as three Olympic silver medals.
She finished with bronze at the 2012 London Games while Australia missed a sixth consecutive medal in a disappointing Olympic campaign in Rio de Janeiro four years ago.
With Cambage, who last featured in the WNBL for the Melbourne Boomers in 2017-18, among the world's best players, and a host of others in support, Jackson can see the Opals rebounding in the next two years.
"The WNBL should be considered the template for how to develop world-class athletes for both domestic and international honours, while delivering a product which is envied by the rest of the world," she said.
"We are entering an extremely exciting period for Australian women's basketball ... never has there been a greater opportunity for Australia to claim that title as the world's best women's basketball nation."
Cambage's potential return would bolster a WNBL season that will not feature imports, while a host of Opals already playing in the competition could also be on the move when free agency kicks in from 1pm on Thursday.
"In addition to the sensational Australian talent who have either re-signed or are on the free agency list for next season, the WNBL could welcome back some of our homegrown superstars including the likes of Liz Cambage and Alanna Smith, which would be phenomenal," Jackson said.
Australia's longest-running elite women's sporting competition will run a 21-game regular season from November, with finals in March.
A broadcast arrangement, fixture and attendance details are still to be confirmed.
Australian Associated Press
