Athletes Unlimited, the 5-on-5 pro women's basketball league set to begin its fourth season on Feb. 5 in Nashville, announced its final 40-player roster Thursday, which includes many WNBA standouts.
Three-time WNBA champion Alysha Clark is one of the veteran WNBA unrestricted free agents who will be playing in AU, along with Sydney Colson, Isabelle Harrison and Kia Nurse.
Clark and Colson played for the Las Vegas Aces this past season, while Harrison was with the Chicago Sky and Nurse with the Los Angeles Sparks. Teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Jan. 21, and can begin signing them Feb. 1.
Among other WNBA players who are on the AU rosters are the Sky's Elizabeth Williams, a two-time WNBA all-defensive team member, 2021 WNBA champion Lexie Brown (Sparks), Seattle's Jordan Horston and Dallas' Maddy Siegrist, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 WNBA draft.
Among players taken in the 2024 WNBA draft who will play in AU are No. 8 Alissa Pili, who spent the season with the Minnesota Lynx, No. 16 Dyaisha Fair, No. 25 Charisma Osborne and No. 36 Angel Jackson. Also on the AU roster is Jaylyn Sherrod, an undrafted 2024 rookie who finished this past season with the WNBA champion New York Liberty.
Fair, who played collegiately at Syracuse, and Ashley Joens, the No. 19 pick in the 2023 WNBA draft who competed in the league that year but not in 2024, both scored over 3,000 points in college. Joens, from Iowa State, and Fair are among 24 first-time AU players.
AU the past three years has proved to be a gateway for players to either get a shot at the WNBA or return to the league by providing a showcase for their skills in the United States in the WNBA's offseason.
AU and the new 36-player league Unrivaled, which launches Friday in Miami and features 3-on-3 play, are both opportunities for players to compete outside of the WNBA season.
The 40 AU competitors will vie to be individual champion after a 24-game schedule that runs from Feb. 5 to March 2 at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium. Ten games will air exclusively on ESPN+, while 14 others are on the WNBA App.