The point is, she will be the same player as a pro and her salary will be lower. If it was only about the player, that wouldn't be the case.
Her salary will technically be higher. It’s zero right now. She is making endorsement money and will make endorsement money as a pro. It’s more than a semantic difference.
If that endorsement money is lower as a pro, that’s more an indictment of the WNBA than anything else.
In her case, at least, it is only about the player. Iowa doesn’t have much of a role in it other than being the school she happened to pick. She’d be making this money regardless of which school she attended.