The USA Basketball run at the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup has been emphatically noted. They’ve won four of the last five times the event has been held, and they’ll look to add to that dominance again this year.

Mikaylah Williams, Juju Watkins and Breya Cunningham are among the top three recruits headlining the star-studded U17 National Team, a 12-player squad that was finalized on June 1.

They’ll gear up for next month’s action at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup, which is slated to take place July 9-17 in Debrecen, Hungary, and head coach Sue Phillips is thrilled at the versatility this year’s roster has to offer.

“Understanding that it will take perhaps a variety of styles of play to be effective on any given night, I love the prospects of the interchangeable pieces and the different types of roster formations that we can put on the floor to be effective,” Phillips said.

When you’ve already won a @FIBA⁩ U18 3X3 Gold Medal, what does this ⁦@usabjnt⁩ U17 trials mean to Mikaylah Williams @mkwill12_ and her competitive matchups with Juju Watkins ⁦@Jujubballin⁩ ? ⁦@BlueStarMedia1⁩ ⁦@BlueStar30s⁩ @dickweiss ⁦ pic.twitter.com/1LvOPRvong

— Mike Flynn (@MikeFlynn826) May 29, 2022

This year marks the fifth USA Basketball coaching assignment for the longtime coach, who led the U16 team to a gold medal a year ago at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mexico. Cunningham, Watkins, Madison Booker, Jaloni Cambridge, Jadyn Donovan, and Jada Williams were each members of that team, which defeated Canada 118-45 in the final.

Her experience with the U17 team is also worth noting. In 2014, Phillips helmed a squad that survived a 40-point performance from Angela Salvadores in the championship game, claiming a 77-75 win over Spain. That gold-medal team was also star-studded in its own right, including the likes of Arike Ogunbowale, Lauren Cox, Asia Durr and Sabrina Ionescu.

“We’re not only going to need to utilize our talent, but we have to play smart and play hard and play together. We can’t play hero ball,” Phillips said. “A lot of these teams that we’ll be competing against have been together for months, if not years, and their ability to work a two-player game and have this incredible chemistry on the floor is a given. So we are going to have to have our two-player defensive strategies on point.”

Mikaylah Williams is the two-time reigning Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year after leading Parkway High School (La.) to a 32-2 record and a state championship last season, during which she averaged 22.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game. She remains uncommitted but has narrowed her list of schools down to five — Baylor, Duke, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M.

Phillips lauds Williams’ “instant offense” and is thrilled to have the top recruit in the class of 2023 leading the way for Team USA.

“I think she has a beautiful mid-range game. It’s automatic,” Phillips said. “She has a knack for scoring. You give her a seam or space, she’s going to be able to get us a bucket. She’s strong, explosive. She can get on the glass. We’re going to need our guards to rebound to gain us some extra possessions and to secure the defensive stops.”

The reigning 2021-22 Gatorade California Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Watkins is also no stranger to Phillips. In March, Watkins notched a double-double with 23 points and 19 rebounds to lead Sierra Canyon to an 85-61 win over Archbishop Mitty in the Open Division state championship.

That Archbishop Mitty team was coached by none other than Phillips, who saw first-hand just how dynamic Watkins has become.

“Her team was victorious, and Juju was a big part of that,” Phillips said about Watkins, who averaged 25.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in guiding the Trailblazers to a 30-2 record last season. “She’s a three-level scorer. She’s probably one of the best I’ve seen in my 30-year coaching tenure in being able to finish with and through contact. She’s incredibly strong and creative with her finishes around the rim. She can impact the game defensively as well. She has great anticipation and athleticism, just an incredible feel for the game.”

Phillips is joined by assistant coaches Tom McConnell (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) and Brittanny Johnson (Evanston Township High School [Ill.]). Phillips believes both excel in different ways to create a fully-formed unit.

“Being able to help us conduct an effective and efficient practice and then also provide the mid-game adjustment insights, I really enjoy working with Tom and look forward to the coming weeks,” Phillips said. “Brittanny was a court coach last year and has now been put on the coaching staff as one of my assistants. I really enjoyed working with her in trials a few weeks ago. I think she is very intuitive about the game. She has a great understanding of the sense of strengths that our players can bring to the table.”

Selected by the USA Basketball Developmental National Team Committee, the U17 team is made up of future graduates from 2023 and 2024. They were chosen after six days of trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., where 40 invitees were dwindled down to a dozen.

Additionally, Kennedy Umeh was a finalist for the 2021 U16 roster, while Mikaylah Williams also has experience with USA Basketball, helping lead her team to a gold medal finish at the 2021 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup.

With the start of training camp looming ahead on June 26, Phillips is filling that time coaching her club and AAU teams. But the anticipation of heading to Europe to compete for gold is building by the day.

Times like these are everything to a coach who’s been in the ranks for more than 20 years.

“It’s an amazing two weeks. I just love basketball,” Phillips said. “I love teaching and coaching the game. I couldn’t be more excited to support the red, white and blue with this particular roster and coaching staff. I’m excited with our prospects and ability to make the World Cup, and I can’t wait to get to work.”

Click here to see a preview of the U18 National Team roster.

MEET THE TEAM

Sunaja Agara, 16, Hopkins HS (Minn.)
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.
Height: 6-2
Class: 2023
Commitment: Stanford

Madison Booker, 16, Germantown HS (Miss.)
Hometown: Ridgeland, Miss.
Height: 6-1
Class: 2023
Commitment: Undeclared

Jaloni Cambridge, 16, The Ensworth School (Tenn.)
Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.
Height: 5-0
Class: 2024
Commitment: Undeclared

Morgan Cheli, 16, Archbishop Mitty HS (Calif.)
Hometown: Los Altos, Calif.
Height: 6-1
Class: 2024
Commitment: Undeclared

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Breya Cunningham, 17, La Jolla Country Day School (Calif.)
Hometown: Chula Vista, Calif.
Height: 6-4
Class: 2023
Commitment: Undeclared

Jadyn Donovan, 16, Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.)
Hometown: Upper Marlboro, Md.
Height: 6-0
Class: 2023
Commitment: Undeclared

Hannah Hidalgo, 17, Paul VI HS (N.J.)
Hometown: Merchantville, N.J.
Height: 5-7
Class: 2023
Commitment: Undeclared

Mackenly Randolph, 16, Sierra Canyon School (Calif.)
Hometown: Encino, Calif.
Height: 6-1
Class: 2024
Commitment: Undeclared

Kennedy Umeh, 15, McDonogh School (Md.)
Hometown: Columbia, Md.
Height: 6-4
Class: 2024
Commitment: Undeclared

Judea Watkins, 16, Sierra Canyon School (Calif.)
Hometown: Sylmar, Calif.
Height: 6-1
Class: 2023
Commitment: Undeclared

Jada Williams, 17, La Jolla Country Day School (Calif.)
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Height: 5-8
Class: 2023
Commitment: UCLA

Mikaylah Williams, 16, Parkway HS (La.)
Hometown: Bossier City, La.
Height: 6-1
Class: 2023
Commitment: Undeclared

The 2025 NCAA volleyball season is heating up, with a pair of Top 10 matchups headlining the first annual ACC-SEC "Showdown at the Net" event on Wednesday.

Recent conference realignment has seen the SEC and ACC emerge as volleyball strongholds alongside the Big Ten, with the two Power Four rivals laying claim to seven of the current Top 10 teams.

Putting their reputations to the test, the conferences launched the two-day "Showdown at the Net" series this season, with 14 SEC vs. ACC games taking place at campuses nationwide while the four top contenders face off in the event's two-game spotlight showcase in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Wednesday doubleheader will first pair the SEC's No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats against the ACC's No. 7 Pitt Panthers before their respective conference standouts take the court as the No. 2 Texas Longhorns face the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals.

The battle between the Longhorns and Cardinals — a rematch of the 2022 national championship game — will be particularly tense, as both squads enter the match without a single loss on the young 2025 season.

How to watch "Showdown at the Net" NCAA volleyball tournament

No. 3 Kentucky and No. 7 Pitt will kick off Wednesday's top-tier college volleyball clashes at 6:30 PM ET before No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Louisville square off at 9 PM ET.

Both games will air live on ESPN.

Atlanta head coach Karl Smesko made WNBA history on Monday, becoming the winningest first-year manager on record after the No. 3 Dream earned their 29th victory of the season by defeating the No. 11 Connecticut Sun 87-62.

With Monday's result, Smesko surpassed the previous 28-win record set by former LA Sparks head coach Michael Cooper in 2000 — and boosted his position in the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year race in the process.

Notably, while coaches like Cooper spent years as an assistant in the pros before leading a team, Smesko entered the 2025 WNBA season without any experience on the professional sidelines, with the Atlanta Dream hiring the 54-year-old following Smesko's 22 years helming the college team at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Smesko is now one of several new coaches seeing quick success at the sport's top level — with even more WNBA milestones looming on the horizon.

"It's nice that we're winning and that we're in a good position for the playoffs," Smesko said following Monday's victory. "Those types of [records] don't have a lot of meaning for me. The meaningful part is coming up: Are we going to be the best prepared for the playoffs?"

How to watch the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday

While it might not matter too much to Smesko, with one game left in the Atlanta Dream's 2025 regular season, he has the opportunity to pad his new record even more and finish the year with an even 30 wins on Wednesday.

The Dream will close out their 2025 regular season with a rematch against the Sun at 7 PM ET, with live coverage of the game airing on WNBA League Pass.

Sky star Angel Reese watched from the sidelines as No. 12 Chicago fell 92-61 to the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday night, ruled out with a back injury after serving a half-game suspension on Sunday for making "statements detrimental to the team" last week.

Back pain that has troubled the forward throughout the second half of the 2025 WNBA season, with Reese opting to sit out Tuesday's clash despite earlier expectations that she would take the court.

"After warm-ups, she communicated that she just wasn't feeling it physically," Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said, after previously telling reporters he expected Reese to play. "She reported that pain, and so we wanted to hold her back."

Reese's relationship with the organization has been under a microscope since the 23-year-old criticized team leadership in last week's Chicago Tribune interview, prompting high-profile reactions from both within the league and beyond.

"Chicago is probably the worst-run organization in the league. You're gonna suspend your best player just because she's putting pressure on you to get better? That was embarrassing to see," an anonymous WNBA exec told the Dallas Hoops Journal in response.

"She got in trouble for telling the truth. And I feel like women, especially Black women, are over-policed in this league," Sports Are Fun guest co-host Greydy Diaz said on this week's episode. "If you really look at Chicago and its history, ownership, front office — it's been a disaster for years. You've had star players leave over and over…. I think they need to clean house in Chicago."

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How to watch the final 2025 game for the Chicago Sky

Should her pain subside, Reese will suit up for the Chicago Sky's season finale on Thursday — though the league sophomore has already hit the requisite minimum number of game appearances to officially qualify as the WNBA's rebounds-per-game leader this year.

The No. 12 Sky will close out their 2025 campaign against the No. 5 New York Liberty at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage airing on WNBA League Pass.

Gotham FC is cleaning house, following up Monday's splashy Jaedyn Shaw trade with even more roster moves as the No. 6 NWSL club prepares for a major playoff push.

The Bats officially fulfilled defensive midfielder and 2023 NWSL champion Nealy Martin's trade request on Tuesday, sending her to Angel City in exchange for $85,000 in intra-league funds.

"More than anything I want to thank the Gotham community for taking a chance and believing in me," Martin said in a club statement. "I gave my heart and soul to this club, and a piece of me will always remain in NJ/NY."

Martin's departure is just one recent roster shift, with Gotham also loaning out recently acquired forward Princess Ademiluyi as they look to incorporate Shaw — and her league-record $1.25 million transfer fee — into their system.

Gotham is banking on long-term success from the 19-year-old, signing Ademiluyi from WSL mainstay West Ham United through the 2029 season before sending the England youth national team attacker for further development with USL Super League side Fort Lauderdale United FC on Tuesday.

Big-name NWSL signings tend to create a domino effect, and as long as they have the money, now is the time for mid-table teams like Gotham to trade as the 2025 season inches closer to crunch-time.