ThePostGame caught up with the WNBA legend and four-time Olympic gold medalist. Leslie is an advisory board member for the Capital One Cup, an NCAA Division I athletic award given annually to the top men's and women's college athletics program.
ThePostGame: What's the atmosphere like at the Final Four in New Orleans?
LISA LESLIE: It's been going great. I was out at Tourney Town on Sunday, and there were tons of people out there. I was doing interactive things for Capital One Cup, and it was really great. I threw a few lacrosse balls, which I'm not that great at [laughs].
I did kick some soccer balls and won a few games. I beat everybody out there. That's a little bit closer to the hand/eye coordination for me.
TPG: What's your take on how the NCAA tournament has gone thus far? Do you think anyone predicted Louisville would be playing in the national championship game?
LESLIE: Nope, my bracket's been jacked ever since they beat Baylor [laughs]. Being honest with you, I had Baylor winning it all.
I had UConn winning it all early in the year, and then I saw Baylor play, and then I changed my mind. I was like, "They look like they really got it goether, they're very sharp." And then here comes Louisville out of nowhere knocking them out. And then they knocked out Tennessee, and so now I'm like, "Oh my God, the underdog has come back." I love this type of story though.
And then you have UConn who is trying to get back to their rightful place of winning championships. They've already won seven, they've never lost a championship game. They're 7-0 when in a championship game, and it's going to be tough for the underdogs to really take them down. But I think it's going to be a great game if Louisville can slow down UConn, really clog up the pace, stay physical and get them to be one-and-done, maybe try to ruffle the feathers of some of the guards. But I really don't think they have the stamina to stay with UConn.
UConn is in great shape. They have quite a few weapons with [Kaleena] Mosqueda-Lewis and Breanna Stewart has come on strong. And then Stefanie Dolson, who didn’t play well on Sunday, I think she's going to step up and play big for them as well.
They’ve got a lot of weapons, and they've got a lot of heart.
TPG: Which less heralded players have impressed you over the past few weeks?
LESLIE: [Louisville forward] Antonita Slaughter, I didn't know her name before the tournament. She's a post player, she steps out and knocks down the three-ball. She was 4-for-5 on Sunday. I've been really impressed with her. She's at the front of their zone. She's smart, heady, she knows what she's capable of doing. She doesn't reach too much, she understands a good defensive position. She has a lot of heart, and she was one of those players that really took it at Brittney Griner.
I've been most impressed with her in terms of not knowing her before this tournament.
TPG: With an extremely talented draft class, the WNBA looks to have a bright future. What role does social media play in the growth of the league?
LESLIE: The access and the exposure, the fact that you have these players with –- I believe that Skylar [Diggins] is almost up to 200,000 followers or something. I think it's great for Brittney [Griner], obviously people always have comments, and they're not always positive comments, but the fact that people are talking to you, you know how they say, "All press is good press?" As long as you're not doing anything crazy when people are talking about you, that means they know you. Which helps with your notoriety and your brand.
I think that when it comes to the players recognizing that they are a brand and what they put out there needs to be something important, you can use your name and leverage to do positive things to impact the community, to impact the world.
To check out the updated Capital One Cup standings, see here. You can also follow Leslie on Twitter @LisaLeslie.
