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For its May 7 issue, Sports Illustrated is honoring the 40th anniversary of Title IX with a number of articles online and in print.

Their online spread is fairly extensive with some great columns about Title IX, how far it's come, and where women's sports is going.

We received a preview of the print issue yesterday and it has four articles related to women's basketball that are summarized after the jump as well as the list of women's basketball players that made SI's list of Top 40 Athletes of the Title IX Era.

• Kelli Anderson wrote about the "Olympic Movement" that helped pave the way for the WNBA. Former WNBA president Val Ackerman is quoted as saying, “The 1996 Olympic team was foundational. If it had been a flop, it probably would have deterred us. Instead it was reinforcing. That team attracted strong crowds and became a huge story.”
• Michael Bamberger writes about the 1976 Yale rowing team that protested of unequal treatment between the men’s and women’s teams. One of those rowers was Ginny Gilder who is now part of Force 10 Hoops, which owns the Seattle Storm.
• Phil Taylor writes about three women's sports stars who were born in 1972, the year Title IX was passed: Lisa Leslie, Mia Hamm (soccer) and Summer Sanders (swimming). All three Olympic gold medalists turn 40 this year as well.
• George Dohrmann wrote about the impact the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) had on advancing competition among female athletes. Cathy Rush, who won three AIAW titles and appeared in six straight final fours as basketball coach at Immaculata, said, “It changed the perspective of the players and the coaches. You had a reason to have a good team, to have good players.”

SI.com also has a full spread on the impact of Title IX, including its list of Top 40 Athletes of the Title IX Era. The following women's basketball players made that list (in alphabetical order):

• Teresa Edwards
• Chamique Holdsclaw
• Marion Jones (track)
• Lisa Leslie
• Nancy Lieberman
• Cheryl Miller
• Maya Moore
• Ann Myers
• Candace Parker
• Sheryl Swoopes
• Diana Taurasi
• Lynette Woodard

The highest women's basketball player on the list is ranked #3 and you can look through it to see which one that is. Just looking at the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time released last year, there are a few additions that I'm sure women's basketball fans would like to make.

For more on Title IX, visit our Title IX resources page.

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