Every year, the McDonald’s All American games honors basketball’s best and brightest from around the nation. High school seniors are selected based on their on- and off-court contributions to play in the East versus West showdown.

Since the first girls’ game in 2002, over 450 players have taken the McDonald’s stage before heading off to college, including stars like Nneka Ogwumike, Elena Delle Donne, Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore and A’ja Wilson.

After two years without in-person games due to the pandemic, this year’s all-star classes will battle it out in Chicago on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. With 24 top recruits and rumors of a heated Sunday night scrimmage, the East and West Teams are likely to deliver a game to remember.

Here are three storylines to watch for on Tuesday night.

1. UConn-bound duo to go head-to-head

Geno Auriemma has struck gold on the recruiting trail once again. The incoming frontcourt duo of wing Ayanna Patterson (Homestead High School; Fort Wayne, Ind.) and post Isuneh “Ice” Brady (Cathedral Catholic High School; San Diego, Calif), both top-five recruits in the Class of 2022 per ESPN, play with a powerful combination of creativity and physicality. While the Huskies will benefit from this dynamic duo for the next few years, on Tuesday, Patterson and Brady will play in the same game for the first time ever. The catch? They’ll be on opposite teams.

“It’s funny,” Brady said during media day. “My [future] teammate, Ayanna Patterson, we haven’t played together yet, so I’m excited to get to play against her.”

The Huskies, who on Monday secured their 14th straight Final Four berth in a thrilling 91-87 double-overtime victory over NC State, have a track record of giving talented freshmen the opportunity to make an immediate impact. Patterson and Brady have the potential to play key roles as soon as they put their UConn jerseys on.

2. Stanford’s next great guard

Defending national champion Stanford has long been known for excellent guard play. Upperclassmen Lexie Hull and Haley Jones are two of the biggest names in college basketball, and coach Tara VanDerveer, the winningest coach in the sport, has developed nine AP All-American guards during her tenure.

Five-star recruit Indya Nivar (Apex Friendship; Apex, N.C. ) — who chose Stanford, in part, because it allowed her the freedom to mold her engineering major in a way that would best prepare her for medical school — has a high ceiling and an even higher basketball IQ.

“[Stanford fans] can expect a dynamic guard that does everything on the court,” Nivar said. “On both sides of the ball. And expect me to do anything I can that would allow my team to win.”

The 2022 McDAAG Girls Skills Contest participant is smooth in transition and explosive off the bounce.

3. The Candace Parker Effect

Candace Parker, one of the Games’ most notable alums, made waves in her 2004 performance. The then-17-year-old, 6-foot-4 Tennessee commit joined Rudy Gay, Josh Smith and J.R. Smith in the McDAAG Dunk Contest as the first female participate in the contest — and won. Nearly two decades later, only two other girls have claimed the prize: Stanford’s Fran Belibi in 2019 and, on Monday evening, South Carolina-bound Ashlyn Watkins (Cardinal Newman School; Columbia, S.C.).

During media day, the 24 All-Americans listed a variety of trailblazers whose style of play influenced their games. No name came up more frequently than Parker’s.

For her final dunk of the first round, which would determine whether or not she’d advance to the finals, Watkins threw on a sky-blue jersey: Candace Parker, Chicago Sky. The crowd in the Wintrust Arena, home of the 2021 WNBA Champions, went wild.

WATCH - @GamecockWBB signee Ashlyn Watkins gets UP for her first dunk at the @McDAAG Slam Dunk contest!

The @CNathletics1 star got a 59 out of 60🔥

And she only needed one attempt! @WLTX #Gamecocks pic.twitter.com/6Olylbmqug

— Chandler Mack (@chandlerdmack) March 29, 2022

Watkins’ dunk earned high marks — enough to move onto the final round with Dillon Mitchell (Texas) and Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas). And after two more dominant slams, she wowed the judges and secured the win.

When asked if she plans on dunking in the game itself, Watkins laughed.

“Hopefully,” she said.

Caroline Makauskas is a contributing writer for Just Women’s Sports. She also writes about college basketball for Blue Ribbon Sports and covers a variety of sports on her TikTok @cmakauskas. Follow her on Twitter @cmakauskas.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.