Who will be the next head coach of the Seattle Storm? Choices abound

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 9: Katie Smith honoree of the WNBA Top 20@20 ceremony presented by Verizon shows off her ring during halftime of Game 1 between the Minnesota Lynx and the Los Angeles Sparks during the WNBA Finals on October 9, 2016 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 9: Katie Smith honoree of the WNBA Top 20@20 ceremony presented by Verizon shows off her ring during halftime of Game 1 between the Minnesota Lynx and the Los Angeles Sparks during the WNBA Finals on October 9, 2016 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
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COLLEGE PARK, MD – MARCH 17: Elon head coach Charlotte Smith during a Div. 1 NCAA Women’s basketball 1st. round game between Elon and West Virginia on March 17, 2017, at Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland. West Virginia defeated Elon 75-62. (Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD – MARCH 17: Elon head coach Charlotte Smith during a Div. 1 NCAA Women’s basketball 1st. round game between Elon and West Virginia on March 17, 2017, at Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland. West Virginia defeated Elon 75-62. (Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The amount of talent among the collegiate ranks is astonishing. But let’s be clear: the relative power, longevity and financial reward of a college job makes luring someone away from a power five conference gig to the WNBA prohibitively difficult. There’s a reason Stephanie White left a very stable Indiana Fever position for the head job at Vanderbilt, and why Geno Auriemma, for instance, hasn’t been seriously linked with a WNBA job (much as reuniting him with Stewart would be amazing to see).

But would someone like Charlotte Smith, who has built the Elon program, or Aaron Roussell, who has turned Bucknell into a mid-major power out of the unlikely perch of the Patriot League, be plausible? This could be the right call for the Storm, too.