When the Chicago Red Stars announced on Thursday that free agents Morgan Gautrat, Danny Colaprico and Rachel Hill had opted not to return to the club in 2023, the news came as a surprise to many.

Colaprico was one of the longest-tenured players on Chicago’s roster, having played for the Red Stars since being drafted in 2015. Only captain Vanessa DiBernardo has been with the team longer, and by just one year. Colaprico started for the team in two NWSL Finals, crossed the 100-cap mark and became a fan favorite as a defensive midfielder. Despite her small stature at 5-foot-3, she was known for always coming up big on aerial duels.

Gautrat, a two-time world champion with the U.S. women’s national team, transformed the Red Stars’ midfield when she joined the club full-time in the middle of 2018. The way the Red Stars dictated tempo and moved the ball was their calling card through 2019. In 2021, as the team made a second run to the NWSL Finals in as many regular seasons, Gautrat helped hold the midfield together with a very different style of play. Hill carried out important utility roles, playing winger and wingback in her three years with the team and scoring their lone goal in the 2021 NWSL Championship.

But with all the information that’s come out about the club in the last two years, it almost would have been more surprising if all three players had decided to stay. Former head coach Rory Dames was allowed to resign following the 2021 season after years of complaints about his coaching, including from USWNT star Christen Press, who played for the team from 2014-18.

Longtime owner Arnim Whisler was named in the recent Sally Q. Yates report on systemic abuse in the NWSL and accused of dismissing player complaints as “Rory being Rory.” In an interview with Defector Media this year, former Red Stars player Brooke Elby said that Whisler would “defend Rory to anybody. He knew everything Rory did. And if he didn’t know firsthand by seeing it, he knew because every player was in that office at some point telling him.”

Beyond Dames, Red Stars players under Whisler also endured what Elby described as sub-par conditions, including living in apartments that Whisler himself owned.

“For what you expect as a professional athlete, it was a joke,” Elby said. “To already come in knowing your team is the poorest team out there isn’t a great feeling. Because we already know everything we’re going to get is going to be like a downgraded version of what everybody else has.”

After Chicago advanced to the NWSL quarterfinals in 2022 under new head coach Chris Petrucelli, Red Stars minority ownership removed Whisler as head of the club’s board of directors in the wake of the Yates report. According to a Sportico report on Thursday, Whisler has “formally engaged a third-party advisor to facilitate the sale” of the Red Stars, but a sale could still take time. Rising club evaluations throughout the league — most notably the reported $60 million that Merritt Paulson is seeking for the Portland Thorns — could play a factor in slowing things down.

Sales don’t always mean a team stays in its home market, as seen by FC Kansas City’s relocation to Utah for the 2018 season and subsequent return in 2021. The bank reportedly leading Whisler’s sale is also currently leading the sales of two new NWSL expansion teams.

In the meantime, Chicago’s governance appears in limbo, and it’s costing them talent. As reported by Defector Media, some of the Red Stars players’ salaries have not remained consistent with veteran industry standards, and in a new free agency market, that’s going to cost a team that historically has struggled with player support. The Red Stars did re-sign defender Arin Wright and midfielder Yuki Nagasato to new contracts, but it appears that instead of retaining their core, they will have to commit to a bigger rebuild.

Also significant is the fact that Gautrat, Colaprico and Hill achieved free-agency status only after an independent arbitrator ruled that six-year veterans are not bound to team-first options signed before the ratification of the league’s CBA. Had the Players Association not pushed for that ruling, all three players would have had no recourse if Chicago had decided to extend their options for 2023.

The ripple effects of NWSL free agency won’t come only in the form of splashy new signings — though those are expected as Hill, Colaprico, and Gautrat begin to negotiate with new teams. Perhaps the most significant outcome is that players now have the chance to pursue better opportunities for themselves.

It was clear after this season that the Red Stars were going to have to keep up with rising standards. Thursday’s news will leave fans wondering if they have a plan.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

With the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season in full swing, top collegiate athletes are already eyeing mid-April's national championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike elite gymnastics, where difficulty can outweigh execution, the college level values precision over big tricks, so Division I athletes all aim for perfect 10s in their competition performances.

Despite this difference, many of the world's most decorated elite gymnasts also compete in the NCAA. Two-time Olympian Jade Carey is back for her senior season with No. 14 Oregon State while her US teammate in both Tokyo and Paris, Jordan Chiles, is entering her junior year at No. 11 UCLA.

The Bruin, who took the 2024 NCAA season off to prepare for last summer's Olympics, will attempt to reclaim the national titles on uneven bars and floor exercise that she earned in 2023.

Top teams poised for the podium

After earning their first national title last spring, No. 2 LSU is hitting the 2025 mat armed with a stacked roster, headlined by 2024 all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and social media star Livvy Dunne.

Add in last year's freshman phenom Konnor McClain, whose prowess on the balance beam ultimately clinched LSU the NCAA trophy, and 2024 Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, who opened her NCAA career with a 9.825 vault two weeks ago, and the Tigers are more than capable of a back-to-back run.

LSU isn't the only SEC team predicted to make a deep run this season, as the conference is once again flush with perennial contenders.

Elite US stars Kayla DiCello and early Freshman of the Year frontrunner Skye Blakely will join two-time US Olympic alternate Leanne Wong in trying to return No. 7 Florida to the NCAA championship meet. At the same time, new SEC team No. 1 Oklahoma, winner of seven of the last 10 NCAA trophies, could see senior Jordan Bowers de-throne Bryant for the 2025 all-around title.

Also causing early national championship chatter are 2024 finalists No. 5 Cal, who return two of the country's best all-arounders in senior Mya Lauzon and junior eMjae Frazier, and Big Ten champs No. 6 Michigan State, whose veteran-heavy lineup boasts stars Skyla Schulte and Sage Kellerman.

How to watch NCAA gymnastics this weekend

Some of the country's top NCAA gymnasts will take the mat when No. 7 Florida visits No. 2 LSU at 7:30 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.

The NCAA unanimously approved implementing a women's March Madness revenue-sharing plan on Wednesday, aligning the women's side with the compensation program the men’s edition has enjoyed since 1991.

"This is a historic day for women's sports, women's basketball, and the NCAA," said NCAA president Charlie Baker in the college sports governing body's statement. "Today's vote means our members have the opportunity to do even more on campus to promote and support female athletes. I can't wait to see all the incredible things they do."

Sparked by 2021's landmark NCAA gender equity review, the decision ultimately actualized after years of pressure from administrators and coaches.

"The long-awaited, hard fought for, and well-earned day is here," said UNC coach and Women's Basketball Coaches Association president Courtney Banghart. "I am so grateful for the effort of so many to bring this reality to our sport."

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Deep March Madness runs earn more revenue

Beginning this year, each team competing in the Division I tournament will now receive performance-based units of revenue, with deeper runs earning more units.

With plans to grow the prize pool to $25 million by 2028, this year's inaugural $15 million purse represents 26% of the competition's $65 million media rights valuation — putting it proportionally on par with the percentage allocated to the men's fund.

Distributions will begin in 2026 and, like the men’s program, they will be paid directly to conferences, whose member schools will collectively decide how to best invest the unrestricted funds.

For the 2025 edition, a unit will reportedly be worth $113,636. According to ESPN's calculations, a Final Four team could amass approximately $1.26 million for its conference over the next three years.

With conferences and schools set for an influx of funds should their teams flourish at the national tournament, the revenue plan becomes a significant incentive for institutions to further invest in women's basketball.

Ultimately, the NCAA's move not only addresses the sport's equity disparity, it could also bolster the annual tournament's level of competition.

Unrivaled basketball hits the court for the first time on Friday and, according to ESPN, the debut league's style of play will look a little different from the 3×3 Olympic game's rules.

Unlike the half-court version currently played in major international 3x3 basketball competitions, Unrivaled's full-court edition uses slightly smaller court dimensions from a traditional 5×5 setup.

Similarly, the inaugural league's format follows a four-quarter setup, but opts for seven-minute periods rather than the WNBA's 10-minute quarters. The shot clock will also be a speedier 18 seconds versus the professional 5×5 game's 24 seconds.

Unrivaled victories, however, rest solely in fourth-quarter play. This "winning score" quarter denotes that the win goes to the first team to score 11 more points than the highest final third-quarter score. For example, if a game's third quarter ends with a 45-43 scoreline, the first team to post the target score of 56 points in the final period walks away with the victory.

This system essentially eliminates the possibility of overtime. League organizers also hope it deters the late-game fouls used strategically and prolifically in 5×5 contests.

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Unrivaled 3×3 format revamps fouls

Speaking of fouls, Unrivaled is also condensing the free throw system to keep the game moving. Each player has six fouls to give, but each shooting foul will earn a single free throw at the line.

Those awarded free throws, however, will contain different point opportunities depending on the foul incurred. Fouled two-point shots grant a single free throw worth two points, while a free throw awarded from a three-point attempt will be worth three. All and-ones are worth one point.

With six players rostered on each of Unrivaled's six teams, the league also tweaked the traditional rule of fouling out to ensure games can be completed should they become especially chippy. If an athlete fouls out with only three available players left on their team, that player can continue competing. She will instead incur a technical foul — resulting in one opponent free throw — for each additional foul.

The new league's rules all point to Unrivaled's efforts to put an engaging, fast product on the court.

"This game is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid on a black top," Unrivaled president of basketball operations Luke Cooper told ESPN's Kendra Andrews on Tuesday. "There's flow, there's pace. When you are watching, it feels like you are watching basketball... it's not a gimmick."

The WNBA free agency carousel started spinning this week, with teams evaluating rosters and coring athletes to either retain talent or trade players for a return.

Thus far, cored players include Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally, and Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams.

Squads employ single-use coring on WNBA stars

Each of the WNBA's teams can core one unrestricted free agent on their roster, ensuring them exclusive rights to that cored athlete. Cored players receive an offer for a one-year, supermax salary contract, along with the option to negotiate different terms.

Cored athletes are unable to directly sign with another franchise, but they can be part of a trade offer by their coring team.

New York cored Stewart after she expressed interest in remaining with her 2024 WNBA Championship-winning squad. Sabally, on the other hand, will likely be part of a sign-and-trade deal after telling media late last week that she is looking to leave Dallas in 2025.

Plum's situation with the Aces is less clear-cut: The two-time WNBA champion could re-sign with her team, though Las Vegas could be exploring opportunities to cash in should she want to compete elsewhere.

Other offers spark WNBA free agent negotiations

In addition to coring, WNBA teams have also begun sending qualifying offers to certain restricted free agents, allowing them to initiate negotiations with those players.

Most notably, despite making Monday offers to three players — guard Dana Evans, forward Michaela Onyenwere, and forward Nikolina Milić — Chicago has yet to extend a qualifying offer to the Sky's 2024 points-leader Chennedy Carter.

Ultimately, while negotiations kick off next week, WNBA contracts cannot be finalized until free agency revs up in February, meaning more shuffling is on deck as teams gear up for the longest and most competitive roster-building season in recent memory.