The 2020 NWSL Draft is officially behind us, and given how hectic this offseason has been, it only seems fitting that the draft was equally dramatic. A last-minute flurry of trades radically re-ordered the first five picks just as the selections were getting underway. Many of the deals involved allocation money, immediately raising questions about the new rule. The biggest story of the day, however, was Mallory Pugh being traded from Washington to Sky Blue in a deal that could have a long-term impact on both franchises.

Below, we run through all the biggest NWSL headlines from draft day and beyond:

Portland snags the top two picks, sparking debate: Portland had already traded Emily Sonnett to Orlando ahead of the draft for the No. 1 pick, with which they were widely expected to select Stanford’s Sophia Smith. They did just that, and then shocked the league by trading $70,000 of allocation money and two later picks to the Chicago Red Stars for the No. 2 pick, which they subsequently used on Washington State’s Morgan Weaver. Weaver was a one-woman wrecking crew during Washington State’s magical run to last year’s College Cup, where Smith herself scored a hat trick in the semifinal. Portland now has two young offensive stars to anchor its apparent rebuild.

The trade between Portland and Chicago was one of many on draft day to involve allocation money, which was only introduced this past November. Intended to help teams pay certain players above the salary cap, the new spending mechanism is now already under fire, as coaches (including North Carolina’s Paul Riley) have said it will set a new precedent allowing teams to essentially buy first round draft picks. Expect this to be a hotly-debated issue moving forward.

Sky Blue trades for Mallory Pugh: In a deal no one saw coming, the 21-year-old USWNT forward was traded from Washington to Sky Blue for the 4th, 13th, and 17th overall picks in this year’s draft, as well as a first round pick in next year’s draft. Pugh skipped college to join the Spirit three years ago, but hasn’t quite lived up to, let alone surpassed, the hype that comes with being a teenage wunderkind, and just last week she was left off the USWNT’s Olympic roster. Still, she’s only 21, making this trade a potential franchise-changer for Sky Blue if Pugh can get back on track. A year ago Sky Blue couldn’t even convince their two draft picks to sign with the club. Now they have an A-list name to headline their roster as they move into Red Bull Arena next season, completing a stunning one-year turnaround.

Washington Spirit trade up for Ashley Sanchez: Sanchez, like Sophia Smith, left school early to enter the NWSL draft. Unlike Smith, it wasn’t obvious from the outset where Sanchez would go, and few could have predicted Washington, a franchise that initially had no first-round picks. That changed when they traded Mallory Pugh to Sky Blue, giving the Spirit the opportunity to immediately draft her potential replacement in Sanchez, another dribble-heavy offensive talent who starred for the USWNT at the youth level before being called into the senior team as a teenager. With the additions of Sanchez and Averie Collins (Washington’s second-round pick) to a squad that already includes Rose Lavalle, Jordan DiBiasi, Tegan McGrady, and Andi Sullivan — all of whom are under 25 —  it’s clear the Spirit now have a young core to build around.

Chicago Red Stars rake in players, money, and future picks: After falling in last season’s championship game and watching Sam Kerr decamp to Chelsea, the Red Stars managed to turn four first round picks in this years draft into Rachel Hill, a reported $85,000 in allocation money, five picks in this draft, and a first round pick in next year’s draft. The Red Stars now have four first round picks in next year’s draft, and while neither Hill nor any of the five players selected this year may turn out to be franchise stars, they’re all valuable assets that can be bundled in a variety of ways moving forward as Chicago looks to rebuild on the fly.

Reign FC announce new, controversial head coach: Former OL and PSG head coach Farid Benstiti has officially been named the new head coach of Reign FC. Benstiti won four league titles and three cups during his time in France and has a long track record of developing world-class players. He’s also the coach who told Lindsey Horan she wouldn’t be allowed off the bench until she lost weight. Horan went on to make an entire commercial based on the slight, and though she’s since said that Benstiti’s tough love made her a better player, there’s no doubt this hire — the first to be made by new ownership group OL Groupe — could come under serious fire if Benstiti isn’t able to establish good relationships out of the gates.

Below is every pick from the 2020 draft:

Round 1:

1. Portland — Sophia Smith, Stanford

2. Portland — Morgan Weaver, Washington State

3. Orlando — Taylor Kornieck, Colorado

4. Washington — Ashley Sanchez, UCLA

5. Sky Blue — Evelyne Viens, USF

6. North Carolina — Alleandra Watt, Texas A&M

7. Orlando — Courtney Peterson, Virginia

8. Utah — Tziarra King, North Carolina State University

9. Reign FC — Kelcie Hedge, Santa Clara

Round 2:

1. Orlando — Konya Plummer, UCF

2. Sky Blue — Kaleigh Riehl, Penn State

3. Utah — Kate Del Fava, Illinois State

4. Washington — Natalie Jacobs, USC

5. Orlando — Phoebe McClernon, UVA

6. Chicago — Julia Bingham, USC

7. Chicago — Camryn Biegalski, UW

8. Washington — Averie Collins, Washington State

9. Houston — Bridgette Andrzejewski, UNC

Round 3:

1. Chicago — Zoe Morse, UVA

2. Sky Blue — Amanda McGlynn, Virginia Tech

3. Orlando — Cheyenne Shorts, Denver

4. Houston — Chloe Castaneda, UCLA

5. Washington — Katie McClure, Kansas

6. Chicago — Ella Stevens, Duke

7. Portland — Meaghan Nally, Georgeton

8. Orlando — Abi Kim, Cal

9. North Carolina — Sinclaire Miramontez, Nebraska

Round 4:

1. North Carolina — Addisyn Merrick, Kansas

2. Sky Blue — Chantelle Swaby, Rutgers

3. Orlando — Chelsee Washington, Bowling Green

4. Utah — Cyera Hintzen, Texas

5. Washington — Kaiya McCullough, UCLA

6. Reign FC — Sam Hiatt, Stanford

7. Reign FC — Meg Brandt, Nebraska

8. Chicago — Aerial Chavarin, Yale

9. North Carolina — Brianne Folds, Auburn

Led by undefeated overall No. 1-seed Nebraska, the college volleyball elite will begin their quest for the 2025 national championship on Thursday, when the first round of the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament hits courts nationwide.

The Huskers are still chasing a perfect season, entering the 2025 title hunt on a 30-0 run having dropped just six sets all season — including losing just one set since September 16th.

"I was expecting us to be great, but certainly not undefeated," said Nebraska alumna and first-year Cornhusker head coach Dani Busboom Kelly on a recent episode of the Welcome to the Party podcast. "They continue to exceed our expectations."

Busboom Kelly's roster is loaded with the kind of experienced connection that only comes when the core of players have competed together for three straight seasons — an increasing rarity in the transfer portal and NIL era.

That said, this core has unfinished business on the national stage, with the superstar junior trio of middle blocker Andi Jackson, outside hitter Harper Murray, and setter Bergen Reilly — all AVCA Player of the Year semifinalists — looking to bring the first NCAA trophy in eight years back to Lincoln.

"It's such a special row, because we just know that all of us have been through thick and thin together and our bond is so strong," Jackson told USA Today Sports earlier this week. "[And Busboom Kelly] gives us so much confidence and we know that with her as our coach, we just can play fearless."

Stacked tournament field looks to spoil Nebraska's season

Even with their "fearless" play, a host of stellar opponents await Nebraska in the NCAA tournament gauntlet, hoping to play spoiler — including Busboom Kelly's previous program, the Louisville Cardinals, who await the Cornhuskers as the No. 2-seed in their own regional quadrant.

Fellow No. 1 seeds Texas, Kentucky, and Pitt will also chase their eventual chance at the Huskers via their own regionals, where the Longhorns could see arguably the stiffest competition from both No. 2-seed Stanford — the winningest program in NCAA volleyball history — and defending champion and No. 8-seed Penn State.

With tickets to the 2025 Final Four in Kansas City on the line, the NCAA volleyball bracket's 64 squads will start serving at 16 campus sites on Thursday.

How to watch the first round of the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament

This year's NCAA volleyball finale begins when No. 5-seed Colorado takes on unseeded American University at 3 PM ET on Thursday, kicking off a two-day first round of 32 matches — with No. 1 Nebraska looking to handle Long Island University in their initial tournament tilt at 8 PM ET on Friday.

All games in the early rounds of the 2025 Division I tournament will air live on ESPN+.

US tennis star Coco Gauff continues to win off the court, with the 2025 French Open champion topping Sportico's list of the 15 Highest-Paid Female Athletes for the third consecutive year.

Fueled by $23 million in off-court endorsements, the $31 million earned by the 21-year-old world No. 3 WTA player edged out the $30 million total income that fellow tennis star and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka garnered in 2025.

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Unsurprisingly, a full 10 athletes on the Sportico Top 15 list are tennis stars, a direct result of the fact that all four Grand Slams and the Masters 1000 tournaments boast equal prize money between the men's and women's competitions — a shift that began with the 1973 US Open.

That established expectation of gender equity in prize money has tennis far outpacing salaries in most other women's sports.

Also making the Top 15 are two LPGA golfers — world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul (No. 15 on the Highest-Paid Female Athletes list) and US star No. 2 Nelly Korda (No. 7) — as well as popular Olympic skiier Eileen Gu (No. 4), WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark (No. 6), and USA gymnastics legend Simone Biles (No. 11).

Notably, Gu, Clark, and Biles as well as Venus Williams (No. 14) all proved the power of endorsements on this year's list, with nearly all of the quartet's earnings coming from sponsorship deals.

As WNBA CBA negotiations rage on, revenue sharing continues to be a wedge issue for both sides of the table, with the league office and the WNBPA eyeing the terms of the most recent proposal from differing viewpoints.

The Athletic reported on Wednesday that the WNBA believes it has offered the revenue-sharing salary model that the players have pushed for throughout the CBA talks, leaving athletes to claim 50% of the "sharable" portion of league revenue.

How the WNBA will determine the "sharable" cut is uncertain, though sources claim the compensation structure on offer will result in players taking home less than 15% of the league's total earnings.

That percentage is likely to take a further hit over the lifetime of a new CBA, according to the league's multi-year earning projections.

"I don't feel like there's any cultivation of a culture of trust [in the CBA talks]," WNBPA president and Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike told The Athletic. "I feel like we've been heard, but not listened to, and I'm hoping that that changes in this 40-day extension, because what we want to do is get a good deal done."

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Parental leave, draft combine, and more enters the WNBA CBA talks

Along with the issue of revenue sharing, the latest WNBA offer also reportedly outlined other proposals, such as the institution of a required offseason draft combine, the elimination of team housing, and the possible extension of the competition calendar by starting earlier and/or finishing the season later.

As for the WNBPA's Tuesday counteroffer, the players union is seeking to eliminate the core designation and shorten the current four-year rookie contract to three years.

The WNBPA is also asking to add non-birthing parental leave, retirement benefits, and reimbursements for mental healthcare.

The WNBA and WNBPA will meet again to negotiate sometime this week, with talks racing toward the second-extension deadline of January 9th, 2026.

After setting a new NCAA basketball record by scoring 100+ points in eight consecutive games, the No. 5 LSU Tigers will face their season's first true test when they visit the preseason-No. 7 Duke Blue Devils as part of the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge on Thursday night.

"We don't play nobody in our nonconference schedule," senior guard Flau'jae Johnson told JWS in November. "From December on out, that's when it gets really [exciting]."

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With their history-making string of lopsided wins under their belt, the Tigers will try to keep the streak alive against a now-unranked Duke side on a three-game losing skid.

The Blue Devils will rely on leading scorer and rebounder Toby Fournier for a spark, with the sophomore forward averaging 15.8 points per game despite Duke's 3-5 start.

As for LSU, the title-hunting Tigers will look to stat undefeated behind Johnson's team-leading 17.0 scoring average, as well as the 16.1 points per game put up by junior star transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley.

"Ballers just want to ball, like hoopers just want to hoop," Johnson said of LSU's quick cohesion this season. "You find different ways to bond and gel with teammates."

How to watch LSU vs. Duke on Thursday

Duke will host No. 5 LSU in the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge at 9 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN.