While Athletes Unlimited basketball is making an impact on its own, the new domestic league also gives players a platform to showcase themselves for WNBA coaches. Some have yet to crack a roster in the competitive WNBA, and others might be trying to get back into the league’s ranks.

Through three weeks of the inaugural AU basketball season, two players have already benefited from the arrangement. Guard Taj Cole signed a training camp contract with the Connecticut Sun early in the season, and on Tuesday, Kalani Brown did the same with the Las Vegas Aces.

As Week 4 gets underway Wednesday night, here are three players making their case for a WNBA contract of their own.

Essence Carson

Carson, a 13-year WNBA veteran, signed on with AU after taking a year off from basketball. During her career with five WNBA teams, she’s averaged 7.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists and won a championship with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016. The former No. 7 overall pick is currently a free agent, having last played for Connecticut in 2020.

Despite the year off, Carson made a seamless transition into AU basketball. Through nine games, she’s averaging 10.7 points, four rebounds and 2.3 assists and is currently 14th on the AU leaderboard with 2,350 points. The guard shined in Week 2, accumulating a season-high 573 points against Team Harrison on Feb. 2 and helping Team Brown to a 3-0 record.

Carson will be on Team Hawkins this week, reuniting with Tianna Hawkins for the first time since her standout performance in Week 2.

Lauren Manis

The Week 3 draft produced some fireworks when Lexie Brown picked Lauren Manis ahead of Natasha Cloud, who protested the selection over the live stream. Cloud had reason to do so: Through nine games this season, Manis is averaging 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 22.2 minutes per game, earning MVP 3 honors in Game 13.

“She’s a dog,” Cloud said. “Her motor constantly goes. She does all the little things that won’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.”

At Holy Cross, Manis was the first player, male or female, to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She holds the Patriot League record with 1,188 rebounds for her college career.

The Las Vegas Aces selected Manis 33rd overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft and invited her to training camp last year, but she was waived and wound up overseas, playing for Cegledi in Hungary. While there, she averaged 16 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in eight games.

To back up the production, she has one key WNBA player in her corner.

“Someone’s gonna pick her up, and if they don’t, that’s a huge mistake,” said Cloud, a 2019 champion with the Washington Mystics. “I think that she can come in. Clearly, she is ready to play in the W. She spent that year overseas, she got better, she came back and she’s proving herself in this league.”

Destinee Walker

Walker has come into her own over the past four games and risen steeply up the AU leaderboard as a result. After scoring 22 points for Team Cloud at the end of Week 2, Tianna Hawkins picked her up in Week 3 and she flourished, averaging 14 points, three assists and 2.7 rebounds. In the six games prior to that, Walker averaged 6.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and one assist.

In the final game of the week against Team Brown, Walker recorded 21 points (on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range), six rebounds and five assists, vaulting up the leaderboard with an additional 592 points. She’s currently in 16th place on the AU leaderboard with 2,277 total points.

After transferring from North Carolina and playing her fifth and sixth years at Notre Dame, Walker went undrafted in 2021 and was picked up by the Dallas Wings on a training camp contract. She was later cut and made her way overseas, where she played for Niki Lefkadas in Greece.

Walker will be back on Team Hawkins this week, with the potential to make an even greater impact.

Others to watch

• Ty Young (13th on AU leaderboard): 8.7 points, 3.8 assists, 62.7% field goal shooting
• Jessica Kuster (15th): 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 44.4% 3-point shooting
• Sydney Colson (18th): 11.3 points, 5.8 assists, 2.2 rebounds

Emma Hruby is an associate editor at Just Women’s Sports.

The 2025 CAF African Women's Player of the Year nominations dropped last week, with a trio of NWSL stars — including 2024 award winner Barbra Banda of Zambia — topping this year's shortlist.

Calling the nomination "an honour and a privilege," Banda posted about the nod on social media, saying that "To be in the same category with all these amazing talents is truly a humbling feeling."

Joining the Orlando Pride striker in excelling for both club and country in 2025 are two other NWSL standout goalscorers: Kansas City Current star and 2024 NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga (Malawi) and Bay FC's Rachael Kundananji (Zambia).

Rounding out the 10-player lineup is Chawinga's older sister Tabitha (OL Lyonnes/Malawi), Esther Okoronkwo (AFC Toronto/Nigeria), Rasheedat Ajibade (PSG/Nigeria), Ghizlane Chebbak (Al Hilal/Morocco), Sanaâ Mssoudy (AS FAR/Morocco), Portia Boakye (Hapoel Petah Tikva/Ghana), and Mama Diop (RC Strasbourg/Senegal).

Based on performances between January 6th and October 15th of this year, the expert panel displayed a more than significant lean toward attacking prowess in their selections, ultimately choosing a roster of all forwards for the 2025 CAF Player of the Year shortlist.

While the exact date is forthcoming, the CAF will announce its award-winners at a ceremony later this year.

Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler is hitting the NWSL pitch, with the Golden State Warriors forward joining the San Diego Wave as a minority investor this week.

"Soccer has been a passion of mine for a long time, and being part of the game in a meaningful way has always been a dream," Butler said in the club's Monday press release. "San Diego has become a city close to my heart, and I'm proud to invest in a club that is pushing boundaries, building something lasting, and setting a new standard for what women's sports can be both on and off the pitch."

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Butler joins retired San Diego Wave star Alex Morgan in an ownership group led by the Levine Leichtman family, after the majority owners purchased the California club at a then-record $113 million valuation in 2024.

"Jimmy is a competitor and visionary who shares our values and our ambition to grow this club," said San Diego controlling owner Lauren Leichtman. "He brings a global perspective, a deep respect for the athlete's journey, and a creative spirit that perfectly complements what we are building here at Wave FC."

Butler isn't the only high-profile men's sports athlete anteing up for the NWSL in recent months, with the NBA star following in the footsteps of NFL quarterback Caleb Williams — who invested in 2026 expansion side Boston Legacy FC — and LA Clippers forward Chris Paul, who joined Angel City's star-studded ownership group.

The 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup spread further around Concacaf on Monday, as Costa Rica and Jamaica officially joined the previously announced Mexico and the US in submitting an uncontested bid to host the international tournament.

"Together, we have an extraordinary opportunity to host the biggest and most impactful Women's World Cup in history, one that will inspire a new generation of fans and help grow the women's game across our entire region and around the world," said US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone in a Monday statement.

"This bid is a reflection of our shared belief that soccer can be a force for good," added US Soccer CEO JT Batson. "We're not only creating an unforgettable moment for athletes and fans, we're building a lasting foundation to grow the women's game at every level, in every country."

Parlow Cone also noted that more than 30 US cities have already expressed interest in hosting some of the 104 games during the newly expanded 48-team tournament, with Jamaica poised to make history as the first-ever Caribbean nation to welcome a senior World Cup match.

"This will have a huge impact on the psyche of every single Jamaican," said Jamaican Football Federation president Michael Ricketts. "It is no ordinary feat for a small country like ours to host World Cup matches.... This is huge for Jamaica and for every person who proudly calls themselves Jamaican."

With no other bids on the table, FIFA is on track to ratify its 2031 hosting decision at the next FIFA Congress in April 2026.

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon is stepping into the spotlight, with Variety announcing that the three-time WNBA title-winning boss will star in a forthcoming documentary from NFL athlete-backed production houses SMAC and 2463 Entertainment.

"For decades, women on the hardwood [were] underestimated and told to stay in their lane," said SMAC CEO and co-founder Constance Schwartz-Morini. "Becky defied every expectation and broke through barriers that once seemed unshakable."

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Schwartz-Morini, Fred Anthony Smith, Ajay Sangha, and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Sean Clifford will serve as executive producers, joined by 2463 founder and Super Bowl champion wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as well as SMAC founder and retired New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.

Through audio diaries, the documentary will provide an inside look at Hammon's rise up the WNBA coaching ranks as well as her experience as the first woman to serve as an acting head coach for an NBA team, with Hammon taking the reins of the San Antonio Spurs in 2020.

A six-time WNBA All-Star during her playing career, Hammon left the NBA for Las Vegas at the end of 2021, leading the Aces to three championships in four years.

The report didn't specify the film's title or scheduled release date, with more details expected in the coming months.