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Interview: Chris Plonsky Discusses Texas’ Plan For Bringing Sports Back

University of Texas women’s Athletic Director Chris Plonsky talks about Texas’ reasons for staying with the Big 12 athletic conference with 10 teams after last week’s departure of Nebraska and Colorado to the PAC-10. (Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images)

Chris Plonsky is the Chief of Staff and Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director at the University of Texas. She previously served as the Women’s AD at Texas, and has worked in college athletics for over 40 years. Below, she spoke with Just Women’s Sports about how UT is working to come back, the importance of reviving college football, and what comes next. 

What is Texas’ plan for reopening? And how has the university handled going virtual? 

We’re hoping to bring back some of our athletes by July 1st. That is the plan, but it could change. We’ve been in online learning for a while now, like most campuses, and it has been a difficult adjustment. Texas is not one of those campuses that had a massive online course offering beforehand. We’re a real big, touchy-feely campus. I hate to say that, but we really are. The humanities and the personal presentation part of teaching here has been at the heart of our institution forever. I think it’s why our education is so good.

Kids are now digital natives so they’ve really managed it well. From a sports perspective, it’s been devastating mentally because it was so sudden. I think kids are more resilient than us old people, but our coaches, they’re almost stir-crazy. We have a coaches’ Zoom meeting once a week and they’re so pent up right now. They want to be able to do more. We hope there’s a way that some sort of normalcy can be approached. But it’s certainly going to be in waves because as we know, even with little baby openings, we’re not ready yet, and we won’t be for a while.

The state is starting to reopen. What are some of the sanitation measures that have been put in place? 

Starting on Monday, there were 30 essential football-related staff employees who were permitted to go back to work. At the front of our North End Zone, we have a screening station, and employees had to pre-submit a questionnaire. Do you have any symptoms? Have you been in contact? There’s temperature-taking, boom, right there done by two sports medicine personnel. You get a wristband if you pass muster, and then you go to your socially distanced area. You have to wear a mask. And it’s very likely when we have student athletes back, they’re going to probably have to wear a mask to work out.

So much of the national conversation revolves around whether football can come back. Could you explain why that sport is so important to the bigger picture? 

The economic driver for those of us in the Power Five conferences is football, and the donations, ticket purchases and television that are tied to football. Right now, we’re slashing budgets just like the other schools you read about. We haven’t spent much at all. We’ve turned off the spigots, except what we need to keep our kids on scholarship and people on payroll and services through remote means.

But we literally have to have that sustaining economic engine of football in some form. Even if it’s football with limited fans, or football on television only — can you imagine the TV ratings? We saw that the WNBA and the NFL virtual draft ratings were some of the highest ever. So we’re hoping and crossing our fingers.

If you sat in our coaches’ Zoom meeting with us Wednesday morning, you would have seen every coach from golf to volleyball to softball to baseball just saying, “We understand it. You guys have to prepare first to see if the football staff and students can return in graduated ways, at whatever time frame the leadership of local agencies, health agencies, and our conference set.” Because if we can keep people healthy, socially distanced with hygiene and sanitation practices in place, and if we can keep the football team healthy in whatever six week period they say they need to train before a season starts, then we will have a blueprint for the other sports. That’s sort of the Texas plan right now, if you will.

So if some type of adjusted football season happens, let’s say no fans, but broadcast money is there, do you guys think that’s enough to support the rest of the programs for the year?

It would be enough if we have some football, but it’s certainly going to be adjusted. Our non-conference schedules are likely to be continually adjusted as we lead towards September. Sports whose competitive seasons are in the spring but do a lot in the fall might have to sacrifice a squeeze in the fall in order to have their spring season. We’re already having schools call us to say they can’t travel to Austin in the fall. As we go forward, there might be a surprise a day.

We can regionalize. We’re lucky, because we’re in Texas, so most of our conference opponents are nearby. The beauty of conferences is you might keep your regular season schedule. It just might need to be compressed to save money. But being in a geographically proximate, busable location, as Texas is, could be really helpful in this COVID environment.

This is where you really find out about your culture and your fabric. You’ve got to plan for every extreme. We’re going to prepare for all possibilities, but we need to stay positive.

How would you describe the overall outlook of your group given the uncertainty surrounding the situation? 

I think there’s a fighter’s spirit in all of us that are involved in athletics. We’ve all learned to deal with adversity, because that’s what sports are about. We love to learn. We love to compete. And when you lose, you learn from losses and you recover to try to get ready for the next win. You know there’s going to be another opportunity. So trying to get this done and achieve in some fashion is where we’re going to start. And then we’ll face whatever comes to us and we’ll be ready for that.

At the heart of all of this is who we’re serving. We desperately want to give our student athletes, both men and women, the opportunity to represent our school and to compete. And to do anything less than that, it would be heart-wrenching for us and them.

At some point our national health experts are going to get their arms around this and they already are making incredible progress. The question is when and how. The tough part of this will be keeping ourselves self-sustaining. If certain avenues of revenue do not appear, the next natural thing will occur. And that I think is very applicable to what all athletic departments are going through right now. It’s collaborative, it’s transparent, it’s good communication, but it’s also very hopeful. And I think what we can count on is that we’ve got really creative, incredibly intense competitive minds here that care about young people.

USC’s McKenzie Forbes: From Gap Year to the NCAA Tournament

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate McKenzie Forbes. 

Here are five things to know from our conversation with the graduate transfer from Folsom, California.

#1 Inspired by USC’s Head Coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, McKenzie wants to be a basketball coach or work in the front office in the future.

When weighing in on what makes a good coach, McKenzie said x’s and o’s are important but “Coaching is a lot of relationship managing and people managing. I think you have to be a good people person and be able to build those relationships, but also in that same breath, you can’t be afraid to have people dislike you in moments. I think that’s a big part of leadership.”

#2 McKenzie says the trajectory of her career changed when she made the decision to transfer from Cal to Harvard.

 In order to transfer, she was forced to take a gap year and spend a lot of time in the gym. “I completely transformed my body and, going into the Harvard season, felt like I was a completely different player. Going to Harvard and playing in a more mid-major conference, I had the ball in my hands a lot more than I might have if I transferred to another Power 5. It really developed other parts of my game.”

#3 How does McKenzie think USC will do in the Women’s College Basketball Tournament?

“I’m not going to give a typical interview answer. I want a Final Four. We have that potential and capability. Like why not? Why not us? I think we have all the pieces.”

#4 Her older brother, Marcus, was her biggest mentor growing up.

“He was basically my trainer from Elementary school on until he went to college.”

#5 Fun facts about Forbes:

She can juggle and she was the quarterback of her Pop Warner football team. “I was slow but I could throw it!”

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Christen Press back training with Angel City FC

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Christen Press #23 of Angel City FC waves to fans following a game between the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Christen Press continues to inch her way back to a return, having returned to training with her club team Angel City. 

Angel City FC coach Becki Tweed said on Wednesday that Press is back with the team full-time as she continues to make her way back from an ACL injury. While she’s still working on rehab, her being back with the team gives staff a better picture of her progress. 

"Christen [Press] is back with us full time which is amazing,” she said. “Having her in and around the team every day, continuing to work hard on rehab ... she's in a space where being in with the team is really important to her and her progression as well.”

The status update comes days after Press posted videos to social media that featured her doing lateral movement in cleats on grass. 

“Look out world she’s on the move !” Press captioned it. 

Press has been sidelined with an ACL injury since 2022, which caused her to miss the 2023 World Cup. She’s since had four separate surgeries to help repair her ACL.

Press told The Athletic a month ago that she’s been “relentless” in her optimism with her recovery despite it being a “slow process.”

“I have a bit of relentless optimism,” she told The Athletic. “I never, ever doubted that I would make it back on any of the timelines I’ve been on."

"Every single time I’ve heard, ‘You have to have surgery,’ I’m completely shocked,” she said. “When somebody asks me how it’s going, I’m like, ‘It’s going great. And it was going great every time. So I don’t know what to tell you anymore!’”

Sophia Smith re-signs with Portland on record deal

(Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)

Sophia Smith is now the NWSL’s highest-paid player. 

The Portland Thorns announced on Wednesday that they have signed Smith to a new contract through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the team did reveal that Smith is now the highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.

It’s the latest in what has been a series of record-breaking contracts in the NWSL offseason. 

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda all signed multi-year deals worth between $2 million and $2.5 million in total. While Smith’s contract is shorter and not worth as much over the long-term, the annual worth is higher. 

“We are over the moon to have Soph commit again to the Thorns. She is a proven, world-class talent and one that we are excited to have contribute to the team’s continued success,” said head coach Mike Norris in a statement. “We look forward to working with her in a Thorns jersey as she continues to shine as one of the top strikers in the world.”

In just four seasons in the NWSL, Smith has led the Thorns to five trophies – including the 2022 NWSL championship – while winning league and championship MVP in 2022. In 61 appearances with Portland, she has 34 goals – including a brace to start this season against Kansas City. 

She’s also a member of the USWNT, having scored 16 goals in 44 international appearances.  Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, she told ESPN she “thought of all the options” but ultimately Portland felt like the right decision.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said in a small roundtable interview that included ESPN. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

She also told ESPN that the team’s new ownership “changes everything.” The club is now led by the Bhathal family, who bought the club after Merritt Paulson was forced to sell it following his part in the NWSL’s abuse scandal. 

"Since I've been here there has been a lot of things going on with this club -- a lot of not-great things going on with this club -- and I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” Smith said. 

"Their vision for this club is so exciting, and you can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be and continuing to push the standard in women's soccer globally.”

Caitlin Clark offered $5 million to compete in Ice Cube’s league

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 25: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates as time runs out in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube's Big3 league, he confirmed on social media Wednesday after the offer leaked.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube wrote on social media. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn't we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3."

While there has yet to be a women's player in the league, both Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have been part of the league as coaches and won championships.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year," Ice Cube continued. "Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes."

Ice Cube, whose name is O’Shea Jackson, says that the offer was made with the intention that Clark be able to compete in the WNBA “offseason.” Clark is largely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in April. But it’s unclear how the scheduling of the two leagues would work. 

The 2024 Big3 season is set to tip off on June 15, with 10 games spanning through mid-August. The WNBA regular season, meanwhile, begins on May 14 and ends on Sept. 19.

On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Jackson said that the league has yet to hear back from Clark. 

“We just need an answer, as soon as they are ready to give it to us,” he said. “It’s always 50-50 till we get a no. At the end of the day, it’s a generous offer.”

The offer – as well as the confusion on Jackson’s part about the timing of the WNBA season – caused some current WNBA players to react. 

"It's funny cause I be seeing his son at W games.. they don't talk?" wrote former No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard

"So no other women's basketball player has came to mind in the last 7 years?" wrote Lexie Brown, adding that she'd support if Ice Cube wanted to build a women's iteration of the league. She later discussed it on the Gils Arena Show, noting that his reasoning of wanting to “uplift and support WNBA players and women athletes” is a “cop out.”

Kalani Brown, meanwhile, told Clark to "take that money" and start a women's Big3.

WNBA salaries has been a talking point in recent months as more collegiate stars declare for the league. WNBA stars have often made more money playing abroad than they have in the WNBA. Clark is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, with a rookie salary of $76,535 for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1-4) that rises to $97,582 by her fourth season. But she also has an NIL valuation of almost $3.5 million.

Diana Taurasi famously skipped the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club, who paid her more to sit out than she would have made in the W. Her contract with the club was reportedly near $1.5 million per year.

Jackson also seemed to suggest that his league could be an alternative to going abroad

“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote. Although it’s unclear whether or not the rapper intends to make offers to additional WNBA players. 

While the league does hold prioritization rules in its CBA, those typically apply only to players playing in overseas leagues. It’s unclear whether or not that would prevent Clark’s participation in the Big3 league.

WNBA players that don’t want to go overseas currently have the option of playing in Athletes Unlimited, which competes in the WNBA offseason.

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