Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball has announced its third season will kick off on Feb. 29, with a roster boasting significant talent. The innovative league, which features rotating team rosters and leaderboards, will return to play in Dallas, where an individual player will be crowned champion after four weeks.
This year’s lineup includes 25 players, including 12 players currently on WNBA rosters. Notably missing from the list are last year’s Champion NaLyssa Smith and second place finisher Naz Hillmon, who have both elected to play overseas this offseason, as well as defensive player of the year Lexie Hull. Third and fourth place players Odyssey Sims and Allisha Gray will return to see if they can improve on last year’s finish.
WNBA veterans Tiffany Mitchell and Angel McCoughtry will join Athletes Unlimited for the first time. McCoughtry is a five-time WNBA All-Star and six-time WNBA All-Defensive team member, who has won two Olympic gold medals. “My focus is clear: I just want to hoop again, to be on the court where I feel most alive. I can’t wait to show the world what I got,” McCoughtry said. They’re joined by three new players who have just completed their rookie seasons: Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke and Maddy Siegrist, as well as WNBA sophomore Queen Egbo. The full roster of participants can be found below.
“We are thrilled to tip off season three of Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball with such an exciting roster featuring elite talent from across the women’s basketball landscape, and to be back in Dallas, a hotbed of basketball talent and culture,” said Megan Perry, Director of Basketball for Athletes Unlimited.
Sparks guard Lexie Brown, who missed most of the WNBA season due to illness, will also return to AU Pro Hoops, which she announced back in September when she was named the Chairperson of the league’s Player Executive Committee. “AU Pro Basketball will be the first time I’ve been on the court since July and I can’t wait to compete with and against the amazing players we have on the roster,” Brown said. “I can’t say enough how grateful I am to have an opportunity to play in the off-season domestically.”
Athletes Unlimited is a unique opportunity for players to stay domestic in the offseason, playing a shorter schedule. Players are awarded points for both team and individual performance, and the players with the top four point values each week have the opportunity to select their teams for the following, resulting in athletes playing with a different lineup week-to-week.
Odyssey Sims, who served as a captain for all five weeks last season, said in her AU Captain’s Journal: “I’m still really good at basketball. I think some people think I fell off but I haven’t. AU speaks volumes so I just let my game talk. Everything else will show for itself.” Sims’ offseason work paid off, as she expanded her hardship contract with the Dallas Wings into a rest-of-season contract in June.
The season will run from February 29 to March 23, with games taking place at Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas.
2024 Athletes Unlimited roster
Laeticia Amihere* F 6’4 Mississauga, Ont., Canada. South Carolina ‘23
Kierstan Bell* G 6’1 Alliance, Ohio. Florida Gulf Coast ‘22
Lexie Brown* G 5’9 Suwanee, Ga. Duke ‘18
Adut Bulgak* C 6’2 Edmonton, Alb., Canada. Florida State ‘16
Taj Cole G 5’9 Richmond, Va. Virginia Tech ‘20
Sydney Colson* G 5’8 Houston, Texas. Texas A&M ‘11
Zia Cooke* G 5’9 Toledo, Ohio. South Carolina ‘23
Te’a Cooper* G 5’8 Powder Springs, Ga. Baylor ‘20
Queen Egbo* F/C 6’3 Richmond, Texas Baylor ‘22
Allisha Gray* G 6’0 Sandersville, Ga South Carolina ‘17
Rebecca Harris G 5’7 Belleville, Ill. Illinois ‘08
Air Hearn G 5’8 Memphis, Tenn. Memphis ‘16
Sequoia Holmes* G 6’1 Las Vegas, Nev. UNLV ‘08
Akela Maize C 6’5 Greensboro, N.C. NC State ‘18
Angel McCoughtry* F/G 6’1 Baltimore, Md. Louisville ‘09
Danni McCray F 6’1 West Palm Beach, Fla. Ole Miss ‘15
Laurin Mincy G 6’0 Newark, N.J. Maryland ‘15
Kelsey Mitchell* G 5’8 Cincinnati, Ohio Ohio State ‘18
Tiffany Mitchell* G 5’9 Charlotte, N.C. South Carolina ‘16
Teana Muldrow* F 6’1 East Orange, N.J. West Virginia ‘18
Caliya Robinson F 6’3 Marietta, Ga. Georgia ‘19
Maddy Siegrist* F 6’2 Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Villanova ‘23
Odyssey Sims* G 5’8 Irving, Texas Baylor ‘14
Destinee Walker G 5’9 Orlando, Fla. North Carolina ‘19/Notre Dame ‘21
Evina Westbrook* G 6’0 Salem, Ore. UConn ‘22
*denotes WNBA experience
