Natalie Nakase is more relaxed and more comfortable demanding that her Golden State team give her more in her second season as head coach
Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith has covered women’s basketball nationally for more than three decades. A 2024 inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Hall of Fame, Smith has worked for ESPN.com, The Athletic, the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Pac-12.com and WNBA.com. She is the 2017 recipient of the Jake Wade Media Award from the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) and was named the Mel Greenberg Media Award winner by the WBCA in 2019.
Posted inGolden State Valkyries
Column: Is it too soon to view the Golden State Valkyries as title contenders?
With the arrival of Justė Jocytė, the team that Ohemaa Nyanin and Natalie Nakase have constructed is finally complete
Posted inFeatures
Excerpt: The Cardinal adapt to life without VanDerveer in 1996
Tara VanDerveer became the first college coach in history to step away from her program for a full year to coach the 1996 U.S. Women’s National team, which would compete in the Atlanta Olympic Games on home soil. VanDerveer also took the job well aware that the U.S. team was a trial run for the […]
Posted inFeatures
A lot has actually changed at Golden State
Sunday’s home-opening win over Phoenix was a demonstration of Golden State’s versatility and depth and a warning shot that in this way too, things will be different.
Posted inFeatures
2026 WNBA season preview: Golden State Valkyries
The Valkyries enter 2026 in a position that most expansion teams don’t experience in their second season: having a track record of success
Posted inFeatures
Cori Close’s calling finally turns into a UCLA national title
“It’s immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine.”
Posted inNCAA Basketball
UCLA, South Carolina are defined by their ability to thrive under pressure
In the Final 4, the Bruins and the Gamecocks found their composure and rode it to a chance at a national title
Posted inWNBA
Valkyries lose Carla Leite in 2026 WNBA expansion draft
Leite heads to the Portland Fire with their second pick in the long-awaited expansion draft.
Posted inFeatures
The Final Four in the West Coast is long overdue
The West Coast has produced elite talent and teams for decades.
Posted inBig Ten, NCAA Basketball, The IX Basketball, Uncategorized
UCLA earns another chance to go 1-0 — in Phoenix at Final Four
A senior-loaded roster puts pressure on UCLA to finish with a title.
