Welcome to the big time.

With the 28th overall pick in this year’s WNBA draft, the Indiana Fever elevated Kamiah Smalls to the professional stage.

“All we did was scream because we were so excited,” Small said. “I felt like it was so much better for me at that moment because I wasn’t expecting it.”

If you haven’t seen the video already, it’s worth a watch. Even if you have, it couldn’t hurt to give it another peek.

.@kamiah_s reaction to getting drafted by the @IndianaFever ????????????#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/WE0PaQkLPg

— JMU Women's Basketball (@JMUWBasketball) April 18, 2020

“That reaction that you saw was so genuine — my enthusiasm and my excitement was just through the roof,” Smalls said. “It was incredible to be surrounded by a couple of my friends and have my family on the phone screaming at the top of their lungs, too.”

“Smalls you did it, you brought your dreams to life,” she told herself. “You might be helping another little girl right now feel like it’s possible to go big when they might be seen as small.”

Oh, and it was her 22nd birthday.

“I forgot it was even my birthday once I got drafted — that’s all that mattered,” Smalls said. “God sent me the best birthday present I’ve ever received in my entire life, wrapped up in a yellow bow.”

Smalls has been an underdog at mid-major James Madison since her debut. Playing No. 13 Tennessee, Smalls scored 15 points, hauled in 12 rebounds and added three steals and an assist. Starting every game her sophomore season, Smalls averaged 15 points per game, but shot just 28.3% from behind the arc on a team that went 23-11.

Then, junior year, Smalls led James Madison to a 29-6 record, but played just 8 minutes in the regular season finale due to a broken hand. In the first round of the conference playoffs, still ailed by injury, Smalls missed her only start of the year and played just two minutes in a heartbreaking loss to Hoftsra. In the WNIT, however, Smalls was back on the court and led her team to the semifinals.

By then, Smalls figured out her shot. Junior year ended with a 38.0% clip from 3-point range. Senior year, when the CAA playoffs were cancelled by COVID-19, Smalls once again had exactly a 38.0% 3-point average, and the Dukes were 25-4.

“It broke my heart,” Small said. “I was so excited for this year and I was all ready to win a ring. When I found out that we weren’t going to be able to finish the tournament, I shut down for awhile. I thought that the tournament was going to affect my level in the WNBA Draft — that I needed the tournament to push my name up and out there for the draft. I was devastated.”

So, Small missed out on the conference playoffs in her final two years of college ball. Looking forward, however, Smalls will enter the WNBA with a highly translatable skill: 3-point shooting. On her new team, the Fever, only two players finished the 2019 season with a higher 3-point percentage. Paris Kea shot 55.6% on 27 attempts, and All-Star point guard Erica Wheeler finished the season shooting 38.4%.

If you ask Smalls though, shooting isn’t even her biggest asset. It’s her energy.

“Always energy,” Smalls said. “I’m a hype kid, 24/7, whether I’m on a bench or on the court.”

That mentality will go a long way toward not only making the Fever’s roster, but succeeding when she gets there. The Fever are led by first-year head coach Marianne Stanley, who spent the past nine years as an assistant with the Washington Mystics, helping them win the 2019 WNBA championship. Her most recent opportunity in the head coach’s chair came back in 2003, when her new general manager was gearing up for her second year in the league.

Pokey Chatman had been the head coach and general manager for the Fever for the past three seasons, but after three losing seasons and a 28-74 combined record, Indiana made a change. One of the newest members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Fever legend Tamika Catchings, was brought in as general manager.

The Fever have 15 professional-caliber players for just 12 spots. Unlike Lauren Cox, the Fever’s draft choice with the third overall selection, the road to a roster spot is murkier for Smalls.

Small was the CAA Player of the Year this past season and ends her James Madison career fourth in points (1,888), fifth in field goals made (686), fifth in three-pointers made (188) and fifth in scoring average (14.5) as the fourth overall draftee from the school.

Tamera Young was the first from James Madison to make the leap to the WNBA, going eighth overall in 2008 to the Atlanta Dream. In 2016, the Minnesota Lynx took Jazmon Gwathmey 14th overall. Lauren Okafor played her junior and senior seasons at James Madison, but chose the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University over a WNBA career.

It is understandable for there to be doubts about a mid-major prospect. But against elite competition, Smalls found ways to help the Dukes, even as defenses game-planned against her. In 24 minutes against eventual presumptive first-seed Maryland in the third game of the season, Smalls scored 14 points, shot 2-for-6 from 3-point range, and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.

“Just because I played at a mid-major school doesn’t mean that I can’t hang with the big dogs,” Smalls said. “It wasn’t about any expectations for myself. It was more about other people’s belief in me.

“I was just hoping that somebody saw the fight in me and the will.”

Was pretty late to the game on Kamiah Smalls. Potential hidden gem of this class. 38% from 3 the last 2 seasons, 3 level scorer, really impressive shooting splits with such a big role for James Madison pic.twitter.com/FPtDU7bcCd

— Ben Dull (@ben_dull) April 22, 2020

The Fever did. The highlight tape is impressive, and it is why Stanley believes in Smalls’ future. Last season, Smalls had experience both at point and off-guard, but Stanley sees her even playing the three.

“Kamiah is an athletic guard who can play any one of the three guard positions,” Stanley said. “Good on both ends of the floor, and another player who just brings a lot of energy and passion and skill to the table.”

Another coach, picking later in the draft, was hoping Smalls would fall to their team, but Indiana got there first. Stanley recalled getting a text from this opposing coach saying “dang that was our player.”

The Fever signed three players with international experience to a training camp contract in the offseason, Hungarian 6-10 center Bernadett Határ, Belgium national Julie Allemand, and former DePaul guard Jessica January. All three will be competing with Smalls.

“I always think I have something to prove,” Smalls said. “In a lot of ways, I’ll probably be an underdog because a lot of people don’t know my name. Maybe they haven’t even watched me. I’m just not as out there as other players like Sabrina Ionescu. I feel like a lot of people will probably underrate me, but they’ll find out real soon who I am. It is what it is.”

Even in our current situation, Smalls is undeterred. And who would expect anything different?

“My mentality always stays the same,” Small said. “I’ve been working hard my whole life. This pandemic isn’t going to slow me down. It’s not going to stop me. You find your ways to stay in shape to make sure you’re up to par when it’s time, when everything does finally decide to happen.

“I’m going into this with an open mind,” Smalls added. “I’m a people’s person. I think my teammates are going to love me. I think I’m going to love them. I think the coaching staff is going to love me and I’m going to give them my all. I’m going to hope that my all is enough and go out there, play my best and, fingers crossed, everything works out.”

Get to know @kamiah_s! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/BRKCpwSRcY

— Indiana Fever ⛹️‍♀️???? (@IndianaFever) May 9, 2020

Star LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson knows exactly what she'd get head coach Kim Mulkey for Christmas.

"Blue crabs," she told Just Women's Sports in November, days before DICK'S Sporting Goods declared her Greatest Wrapper in the Game, a holiday campaign touting the college senior's own limited-edition run of wrapping paper and official holiday campaign video. "Me and her, we like to eat blue crab."

Ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll, LSU is never far from the Final Four conversation. But Johnson — who's increasingly brought a personal touch to her leadership role on the Tigers — has ambitions that extend far beyond finishing out her collegiate career on top.

Already an NCAA champion with eyes on next year's WNBA draft, the 22-year-old dynamic guard  has cemented her legacy as a multi-talent. She's a decorated musician and rapper, an interdisciplinary studies major with a minor in sports administration, and a menace on the court with a motor that never quits. 

"I gotta be me first," she said — and that's the secret to her success.

As LSU's leading scorer, Flau'jae Johnson is off to the races

Johnson knows that the Tigers' nonconference schedule rarely features marquee matchups. 

"We don't play nobody in our nonconference schedule," she said. "From December on out, that's when it gets really [exciting]." 

Mulkey often schedules a slow start for the team, gradually building towards peak form once LSU enters SEC play in January.

That hasn't stopped the Tigers from showing the country what they're capable of this season. They've scored more than 100 points through all eight matchups so far, setting a new NCAA record for consecutive 100+ point games. 

Johnson's progress has featured heavily in every blowout win. She leads the team in points, assists, and three-point percentage per game. But she sees her greatest growth in the intangibles.

Flau'jae Johnson steps up as LSU coach Kim Mulkey's right hand

A self-described loner, Johnson strived to connect with new teammates throughout her four years in Baton Rouge. It's an especially important task as part of an LSU team that thrives through the transfer portal. 

The Tigers won the NCAA championship in 2023 — Johnson's freshman year — led by transfer forward Angel Reese, who was then joined the following year by high-profile transfers Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow. This season, former South Carolina Gamecock MiLaysia Fulwiley has entered the mix, with Johnson quickly creating chemistry. 

"Ballers just want to ball, like hoopers just want to hoop," she said. "You find different ways to bond and gel with teammates." 

When the accomplished hip hop artist's not in the groove working on music, she's trying to extend a hand to the team's freshest faces. "It's been a new job for me as a leader on the team," she said. "It's been easy though, because we just want to hoop."

Year-in, year-out, the Tigers' success relies on picking up instructions and learning schemes quickly, with Johnson — a player very comfortable with Mulkey's system — stepping up to take on the role of team liaison. 

"You've just got to read everybody, their emotions, how they're feeling, and you've just got to be there for everybody," she explained. "But that's not hard for me, because I'm an older sister."

Holiday trips and Secret Santas: Flau'jae Johnson's familial drive

Family is everything to Johnson. Being a college basketball star can make the holiday season tough, as the season runs straight through time she'd love to spend back home in Georgia. And with conference play on the horizon, she knows she has to stay focused on the court now more than ever.

"I kind of put that out of my mind, that I won't be with my family until I go pro, because it used to be hard on me seeing my little brothers go trick-or-treating and stuff without me," she reflected, noting how excited she was to use her own DICK'S wrapping paper to shower her family with gifts this year. 

Her favorite college holiday memory also involves her family, when her entire family traveled to the team's Thanksgiving tournament in the Bahamas. 

"My momma snuck food on the plane — literally the whole Thanksgiving, she cooked it and froze it and put it under the plane," she said, beaming. "And we had a smash Thanksgiving meal in freaking the Bahamas."

This year, Johnson's already looking forward to her team's annual Secret Santa exchange, while also planning to spend her limited time off this winter on a surprise family cabin trip to Colorado The world of NIL has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for Johnson to spread her growing wealth, and she's taken to those opportunities with easy charm.

Setting sights on No. 1, from Baton Rouge to the WNBA

Far from settling for a decorated college run and lucrative personal brand, Johnson is also locked in on making a smooth transition to the WNBA. The calendar year for rising pros is a physical gauntlet, with the draft taking place just weeks after what LSU hopes will be a deep NCAA tournament campaign.

"I'm so ready to go pro," she said. "I really want to establish myself, to show I could be the number one pick in the draft. I feel like my talent level is there, but I've got to execute." 

"The W is fascinating," she added. "It's forever growing, and it's powerful women doing these things. So I'm just excited to be in that group."

Johnson has recently been focusing on her fitness, anticipating increased physicality at the pro level — while also aiming for balance. "They're not going to be swinging me around like I'm a little rag doll," she laughed. "[But] I feel like my mind is the most important part. I want to grow, I want to get better."

Of course, other than committing to winning at all levels, Johnson doesn't know exactly what her future holds. For now, she'll continue to make music, sharpen her game, and stay true to herself. As a player with so many gifts to give, the rest will come naturally.

Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) stocked up by adding 43 former NCAA and Olympic stars to its ranks on Monday night, with Talons utility player Maya Brady — niece of retired NFL legend Tom Brady — leading the charge as the No. 1 overall pick by the incoming Oklahoma City Spark in the league's expansion draft.

Starting the inaugural 2025 AUSL campaign on injured reserve, the former UCLA standout went on to feature in six games for the championship-winning Talons, registering one double, one home run, and five RBIs on the season.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The now-six -team league absorbed the previously independent Spark as part of an initial expansion plan, acquiring the Oklahoma City-based squad with the intention of finding permanent homes for all AUSL teams in the near future.

Also joining the AUSL next year is new franchise Cascade, which snagged Volts pitcher and former University of Oklahoma ace Sam Landry as the No. 2 overall pick on Monday.

Though the four original teams protected five players each, the Spark and Cascade raided their rosters in the expansion draft, claiming stars like infielders Sydney Romero (Talons) and Jessi Warren (Volts) as well as pitchers Alana Vawter (Blaze) and Payton Gottshall (Volts) for their debut lineups.

Immediately following the expansion draft, all six teams took part in an allocation draft, selecting athletes from either the 2025 AUSL Reserve Pool or those previously competing outside the league.

Former Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pitcher Kelly Maxwell earned the top pick in the allocation draft, with the new Cascade player joined by other recent NCAA softball legends like former Sooners Kinzie Hansen, Jayda Coleman, and Jocelyn Alo, Florida State's Kat Sandercock and Sydney Sherrill, Washington's Sis Bates, and Clemson's Valerie Cagle.

US Soccer officially launched the Kang Women's Institute on Tuesday, creating a new platform dedicated to "advancing health, performance, and development for women and girls across the sport" funded by $55 million from multi-team owner Michele Kang.

"For far too long, women and girls have trained under systems and standards built for men, and the Kang Women's Institute is an essential first step in changing that," US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said in a federation statement. "By grounding our work in real research and evidence, we can finally give female players the support, care, and understanding they deserve.

"This is the beginning of a much larger effort, and Michele has helped us take a huge leap forward in reshaping the future of the women's game for generations to come."

After adding a $25 million investment last April to her original $30 million pledge to US Soccer in 2024, Kang is going all in on addressing the stark lack of sports medicine and exercise science research into women athletes — and female physiology at-large.

"This Institute will put female athletes at the center of US Soccer's scientific research and build the evidence, systems, and standards that will allow women and girls to reach their full potential," promised Kang.

The Institute also outlined its early initiatives in Tuesday's press release, with injury prevention and workload management, developmental best practices, and physical and mental player well-being headlining the projects.

"This is not just about closing a research gap," said Kang. "It's about creating a future where every player has the knowledge, care, and opportunity to thrive."

The PWHL is rapidly looking to ramp up expansion, with EVP of business operations Amy Scheer saying this week that the third-year pro hockey league could welcome "two to four" new teams as soon as next year.

"If I was a betting woman, I'd say it'd be four teams. And then I think we'll hold at 12 for a bit," she told CNBC Sport, noting the league's immediate success with 2025/26 expansion sides the Vancouver Goldeneyes and the Seattle Torrent — the latter of which shattered the US women's hockey attendance record in their Friday home opener.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Accordingly, the PWHL will continue testing possible new markets using the league's historically packed Takeover Tour, with this season's 11-city route expanding to feature seven new host venues.

"What does the support of women's sports look like there?" Scheer said, outlining the league's criteria for assessing potential markets. "If there's an NHL team, what does that look like? Or from the building, is there government support there? How does it impact travel? So there's a lot of factors."

As for the league's notably speedy expansion pace, Scheer told Front Office Sports that the PWHL has "proven that time is overrated."

"The more our numbers grow, the more value we have as a league, the more value we have against our partnerships we sell, the more merchandise we sell," Scheer explained. "Those two things — growth and profitability — are not separate."