January 30, 2024
Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball announces finalized roster for the 2024 season
By Arie Graham
Big names, plenty of WNBA talent, and a streamlined way to watch
Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball (AU) released its finalized roster for its third season today. Dallas will host the games for the second consecutive year at the Fair Park Coliseum from Feb. 29 through March 23. The league will feature 29 players with WNBA experience including 18 players that are currently listed on WNBA rosters. There were 15 players added this week completing the 40-player roster.
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“Entering our third season and my first with AU Pro Basketball, I’m excited about the roster we’ve assembled and the caliber of talent that AU Pro Basketball will display in north Texas — one of the most vibrant women’s basketball communities in the world,” said Megan Perry, Director of Basketball for Athletes Unlimited in the press release.
“We have a full roster that includes Olympic gold medalists, WNBA All Stars, and WNBA champions both on the floor and on the sidelines. Overall, this is our youngest roster to date while also featuring 25 athletes returning to AU Pro Basketball, reflecting our success in attracting and retaining top talent.”
AU is a player-driven league where every moment counts due to its unique scoring system. By being able to earn points as a team and individually every player has a chance of winning the championship. 2023 Champion NaLyssa Smith and second-place Naz Hillman will not be returning as they have elected to play overseas. A four-week competition allows players to fine-tune and showcase their skills stateside.
Dallas Wings guard Odyssey Sims is returning for her third season. She served as a captain all of 2023 and was atop the leaderboard four out of the five weeks however, she fell to third due to her team losses and suffering an injury during the final game.
Sims put on a performance that aided her in landing a roster spot in the WNBA. She caught the eye of the Dallas Wings and she finished 2023 with a rest-of-season contract. AU provided the opportunity for her to stay home and compete proving the league can be beneficial to the athletes in a multitude of ways.
The WNBA announced that 18 of the 24 games will be streamed in the WNBA App. It is the first year that the live-on demand content will be available for free, and a further expansion of women’s basketball games available on the app, along with the WNBL.
“We are thrilled to build on our relationship with the WNBA and once again partner to bring Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball to the most passionate fans of the sport through the WNBA App,” said Cheri Kempf, Senior Vice President, Athletes Unlimited in press the release. “We are very glad that these games will be even more widely accessible this season, as fans will be treated to world-class talent competing to be crowned the individual champion of their sport.”
The Facilitators
Each week the top four scorers are the captains. They will get to draft a new team every week. Each captain has a facilitator that will aid them in making their decisions. They also play a role during the games by assisting with drawing up plays.
The facilitators for this season are four-time WNBA champion Seimone Augustus, assistant coach for the Indiana Fever Karima Christmas-Kelly, WNBA champion and assistant coach for the Connecticut Sun Briann January and former WNBA player and coach Chasity Melvin.
2024 Athletes Unlimited roster
| No. | Name | Pos. | School |
| 15 | Laeticia Amihere* | F | South Carolina ‘23 |
| 69 | Kierstan Bell* | G | Florida Gulf Coast ‘22 |
| 42 | Kalani Brown* | C | Baylor ‘19 |
| 4 | Lexie Brown* | G | Duke ‘18 |
| 13 | Adut Bulgak* | C | Florida State ‘16 |
| 19 | Rae Burrell* | G/F | Tennessee ‘22 |
| 5 | Essence Carson* | G | Rutgers ‘08 |
| 9 | Natasha Cloud* | G | Saint Joseph’s ‘15 |
| 0 | Taj Cole | G | Virginia Tech ‘20 |
| 51 | Sydney Colson* | G | Texas A&M ‘11 |
| 14 | Zia Cooke* | G | South Carolina ‘23 |
| 16 | Te’a Cooper* | G | Baylor ‘20 |
| 21 | Emily Engstler* | F | Louisville ‘22 |
| 33 | Bashaara Graves* | F | Tennessee ‘16 |
| 17 | Allisha Gray* | G | South Carolina ‘17 |
| 15 | Rebecca Harris | G | Illinois ‘08 |
| Dorie Harrison | C | Lipscomb ‘22 | |
| 2 | Isabelle Harrison* | F | Tennessee ‘15 |
| 75 | Air Hearn | G | Memphis ‘16 |
| 10 | Ruthy Hebard* | F | Oregon ‘20 |
| 8 | Sequoia Holmes* | G | UNLV ‘08 |
| 11 | Lexie Hull* | G | Stanford ‘22 |
| 90 | MeMe Jackson | G | Tennessee ‘19 |
| Haley Jones* | G/F | Stanford ‘23 | |
| 7 | Whitney Knight* | G | Florida Gulf Coast ‘16 |
| 32 | Akela Maize | C | NC State ‘18 |
| 35 | Angel McCoughtry* | F/G | Louisville ‘09 |
| 73 | Danni McCray | F | Mississippi ‘15 |
| 36 | Suriya McGuire | G | Miami ‘15 |
| 23 | Laurin Mincy | G | Maryland ‘15 |
| 6 | Kelsey Mitchell* | G | Ohio State ‘18 |
| 25 | Tiffany Mitchell* | G | South Carolina ‘16 |
| 12 | Teana Muldrow* | F | West Virginia ‘18 |
| 55 | Theresa Plaisance* | F | LSU ‘14 |
| 37 | Caliya Robinson | F | Georgia ‘19 |
| 20 | Maddy Siegrist* | F | Villanova ‘23 |
| 99 | Odyssey Sims* | G | Baylor ‘14 |
| 92 | Destinee Walker | G | North Carolina ‘19/Notre Dame ‘21 |
| 22 | Evina Westbrook* | G | UConn ‘22 |
| 1 | Ty Young* | G/F | James Madison ‘08 |
Written by Arie Graham
Arie Graham joined The Next in May 2021 as the beat writer for the Dallas Wings.
