Noelle Quinn spent Memorial Day Weekend in a WNBA whirlwind. In the span of 72 hours, she went from being an associate head coach of the Seattle Storm to giving an introductory press conference as their new head coach. The very next day, she guided the Storm to an 88-73 win over the Indiana Fever.

“I think the emotions of everything, I was kind of floating in that it was very surreal,” Quinn says. “But understanding we have a game to play and I was just trying to stay focused on that, it was a lot.”

Quinn and the Storm coaching staff knew Dan Hughes was eventually going to retire. Seattle was already a couple of weeks into the season, but Hughes ultimately felt it was the right time after 20-plus years of coaching in the WNBA and three with the Storm. As his successor, Quinn became the first Black female head coach in the history of the franchise.

“(I have) incredible respect for Dan and what he’s meant to the league and the organization. Learned a lot from him and will continue to learn from him,” Quinn says. “So I thank God, knowing that I’m the first at something but also that I can pave the way for someone coming up to also have an opportunity and can continue on the legacy, continue on the assistant coaching tree, so to speak.”

Quinn has made the transition look seamless. Since taking over as head coach, she’s led the Storm to a 7-3 record, including a six-game win streak, that’s allowed them to maintain their hold on first place. Seattle leads the WNBA in total assists (365), assists per game (22.8) and effective field goal percentage (52.7). For a team that thrives on chemistry on and off the court, the Storm have gelled faster and better than even they expected this season with a handful of new players on the roster.

Quinn, a former WNBA player and champion with the Storm, has a knack for connecting with her players and creating a team bond. At 36 years old, she’s also relatable. One of the first messages Quinn delivered to her team after assuming the role of head coach was that they needed to get back to having fun.

“Basketball is what we do, it’s not who we are,” Quinn said during her introduction on May 31. “Our joy comes from within, honestly, and nobody can take that away from us. I think we are at our best when we’re having fun.”

Where Quinn comes from, it’s just one lesson from a deep, layered basketball education.

***

Quinn never set out to be a basketball coach. Her goal was to “keep playing and hooping” as long as possible. But over the course of her long playing career, something shifted.

“I used to have a notebook — I still have a notebook — of plays that I would like over the course of years of playing, that coaches would cook up, and maybe innately I was building my mind to become a coach,” she says. “(I) just kind of always was a student of the game. I always watched a lot of basketball, no matter what the level.”

That journey started at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, Calif., where the marquee hasn’t changed since Quinn took the job in Seattle. “Congratulations Noelle Quinn ‘03,” it reads. “Head Coach WNBA Seattle Storm.”

Quinn first arrived at Bishop Montgomery in 1998 as an eighth grader and, over the course of four years, led the Lady Knights to four state championships. Steve Miller, the assistant principal, still remembers meeting Quinn when she toured the school with her mother. Even after Quinn moved on to a standout career at UCLA and a 12-year stint in the WNBA, Miller stayed close with her.

“I called her that Sunday right away when I heard she was named the head coach, and I can’t be prouder of her. She deserves it, without a doubt,” he says. “It doesn’t surprise me that it was quietly done, but that’s just how (Noelle) rolls.”

In 2016, when Quinn was still playing in the WNBA, she returned to Bishop Montgomery to take over as head coach of the women’s basketball team — her first head coaching position. The Lady Knights won the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF) championship in her first season.

Quinn’s coaching goal on a day-to-day basis was about more than basketball. She focused on inspiring the young women and making sure they knew she cared about them as much individually as she did collectively.

“A lot of those kids may not go on to play Division I or play basketball for the rest of their lives, so if all they have is four years of the high school setting, it becomes (important) for me to be a light for them, inspire them, show them the way, care about them,” says Quinn. “That’s what I really enjoyed.”

“She changed so many lives the moment she walked back on campus,” Miller says. “Wherever she goes, she does that. I know that the girls know how special it is that they were able to have that opportunity to be coached by her. … She got 100 percent out of each one of those players. It doesn’t matter if they were the star of the team or the fifteenth person, she made them all very special.”

***

Even if Quinn didn’t see her own coaching potential, her coaches, teammates, friends and mentors did.

At UCLA, where Quinn averaged 17.1 points, 4.2 assists and 7.4 rebounds per game, she was known for making those around her better. After graduating in 2007, Quinn was drafted fourth overall by the Minnesota Lynx. As a rookie, she set a franchise record for most assists (14) in the final game of the season, and her season assist total (148) tied a franchise record held by WNBA great Teresa Edwards.

Quinn played for five teams over 12 years — the Lynx, Sparks, Mystics, Mercury and Storm — and was respected for her leadership, reliability and versatility. During that time, she also played for a lot of great coaches, including Sandy Brondello, Brian Agler and Jenny Boucek. Quinn would study their approach and their preparation, watch how they managed their players, take note of their demeanor and keep a mental list of what she liked and didn’t like.

“She’s just always been steady. She never gets too high, she never gets too low,” says UCLA alum and women’s basketball legend Ann Meyers Drysdale. “To me, she’s just always observing and seeing what’s next. She played for five teams, and I think she was solid everywhere she went and constantly learning.”

Sometimes players wonder why coaches do the things they do, say the things they say. Quinn not only understands the dynamic, she also coaches from that very angle. She explains where she’s coming from when she draws up plays, makes substitutions and talks to her team during a timeout. She knows players appreciate the context because she’s been in their position.

“As a player, I was doing a lot of the same things in the locker rooms. In timeouts, I was helping everyone, and so that kind of made it a seamless transition because I’m essentially doing the same thing I was doing later on in my career,” Quinn says. “Just to have that camaraderie from playing pour over into our relationship as player and coach, we can talk through things, we can learn from each other still.”

It helps that Quinn played with four players she’s now coaching in Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd and Jordin Canada. They won a championship together as players in 2018 and again when Quinn was an assistant coach in 2020.

During their last season playing together in 2018, Bird says there were multiple times when she’d be about to walk onto the court after a timeout and Quinn would say, “Hey, you might want to run this play because this team is doing this.” From those glimpses into Quinn’s feel for the game, Bird knew Quinn was ready to be a head coach.

“I think it’s a step that’s been needed, and a step that will probably open more doors for more women, for more former players, for people of color,” Bird said, adding, “The things that (Noelle) has, the things that a lot of former players have, you just can’t teach.”

***

When the WNBA first began in 1997, there were eight teams and seven female coaches. Today there are four, a group that now includes Quinn.

Opportunity is something Quinn has spoken about a lot. It’s important, she says, for WNBA front offices to understand that players are capable of leading a team. But unless former players are given opportunities, the lack of female coaches in the league (or in the NBA) won’t change.

“I’ve said this for years, broadcasting, that why shouldn’t the players take over just like they have in the NBA?” Drysdale says. “The majority of coaches, not all of them, but the majority of coaches in the NBA have been players. There’s no reason five years into the WNBA that that wasn’t happening. … I’m not saying anything against coaches that are in the league now. They’re all terrific. But at some point, I’d like to get the majority again being women coaches.”

Quinn thinks it’s already shifting in that direction.

“As you look around the league there are a lot of former players that are on staffs right now. To have the ability to stay within the game, I think a lot of players would want to do that,” she says. “Especially making that transition from playing basketball all our lives to deciding what we want to do, it’s just an avenue that a lot of players would love. But to have an opportunity is the biggest thing.”

When Quinn spoke about becoming the first Black female head coach in Storm history in her introductory press conference, she didn’t hold back emotion. She reeled off a list of all the Black women who came before her as WNBA head coaches and helped pave the way:

Pokey Chatman; Teresa Edwards; Jennifer Gillom; Carolyn Jenkins; Vickie Johnson; Trudi Lacey; Cynthia Cooper; Cheryl Miller; Carolyn Peck; Julie Rousseau; Amber Stocks; Karleen Thompson; Shell Dailey; Jessie Kenlaw; Cathy Parson; Taj McWilliams-Franklin; Denise Taylor; Penny Toler.

At her introductory press conference, Noelle Quinn talked about what it means to be the Storm’s first Black head coach and the 19th Black female head coach in WNBA history. pic.twitter.com/3HTiOVcLDT

— Percy Allen (@percyallen) June 1, 2021

“What’s interesting is only one person on that list is still in our league, and that’s Vickie Johnson,” Quinn says. “Now I have younger generations understanding that it is possible, that this job is for young girls who look like me. I think the opportunity for younger generations to understand that we’re more than just athletes, I understand the weight of that.”

Now that Quinn has the opportunity in her hands, she’s intent on making the most of it. The Storm have high expectations. They have the talent and experience to make it back to the WNBA Finals and repeat as champions. And Quinn has embraced that challenge head on.

She knows what it takes, after all.

“It’s twofold,” she says. “It does feel like it puts pressure (on you) to be successful, but at the end of the day, when you are given the opportunity, you want to be able to show that you can do it.

“And those opportunities should come more frequently, more often.”

Looking back, UCLA coach Cori Close has mixed emotions about her team’s 2024/25 campaign.

Featuring one of the most talented starting fives in the sport, the team made historic strides all the way to a program-first Final Four appearance. But last season also served up a bittersweet ending.

The Bruins saw their dream postseason unceremoniously ended by eventual national champions UConn in an 85-51 rout. Highly touted but inexperienced on the big stage, UCLA nearly reached the mountaintop before a rough tumble, stirring up questions about the team’s ability to hang with the NCAA’s blue chip establishment.

“There’s nothing like having a historic season, and falling a little bit short,” head coach Cori Close told JWS in October. “The hunger to do it better, but also the attention to detail that it really takes.”

“It’s one thing to know things in your head, it’s a whole other thing to have them in your heart,” she continued. “And I think our team has a higher degree of these things in our heart.”

With renewed focus and deepened experience — plus an even more complete roster that can run the court against just about anyone — the Bruins just might reach the mountaintop again in 2026.

Following another strong offseason recruiting cycle, UCLA currently sits fourth in the AP Top 25 Poll after ranked wins over No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 19 Ohio State, and No. 23 Tennessee. And now the reigning Big Ten Tournament champions are setting their sights on conference play — with Saturday’s showdown with Southern California rivals No. 17 USC front of mind.

From here on out, attention to detail could make all the difference in how this season’s story ends.

UCLA is on a mission to reduce turnovers and own the glass

Before the 2024/25 season even began, coach Close already knew exactly where her team needed to improve.

The Bruins played a fast-paced style last year, facilitating ball movement inside and out with skill players at every position. This year, Close believed her squad could excel in terms of discipline, rather than sheer talent.

“We went back and studied the last five national championship teams and talked about trends that we see that they all have, that maybe we’ve fallen short in,” she said. “We figured that we need to turn the ball over three fewer times a game.”

Defense also plays a factor. “When you really trace championship teams, they have to be dominant in their rebounding,” she added. “We have a goal to get 70 to 75% of the misses.”

13 games into the season, UCLA hasn’t quite achieved all their goals. But they are showing potential. They’re slightly up in average rebounds with 44.1 per game, while lowering average turnovers by more than three per game.

But the team’s limitations against top talent reared its head in their November 26th loss to No. 2 Texas. UCLA grabbed only 32 rebounds while committing 20 turnovers — nearly double their season average.

“I was really honest with [the players],” Close said after the 76-65 defeat. “There’s some things we’ve been talking about that haven’t gotten enough change. Maybe this will get us to change some things that led to this.”

The threat of not sizing up against the best of the best fresh in their minds, UCLA has subsequently looked stronger. They reduced their turnovers even more against then-No. 14 Tennessee in late November, before dominating the boards against No. 19 Ohio State last Sunday.

“We have an abundance of growth opportunities, we have an abundance of opportunities to invest in each other,” Close told JWS.

“We have an abundance of ways in which we can improve week by week. We’re going to just stay focused on those.”

The Lauren Betts blueprint: Efficiency over minutes

Reaching UCLA’s goals relies on team-wide commitment — and figuring out the best way to utilize the team’s biggest star.

The Bruins have a wealth of elite guards, with upperclassmen like Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez running the backcourt. But it’s no secret that the team’s attack and defense runs through 6-foot-8 All-American center Lauren Betts.

The senior is a global talent. She made her USA Basketball debut in December, and is shortlisted to become the 2026 WNBA Draft No. 1 pick once her decorated college career comes to an end.

One of the most dominant two-way bigs in the college game, Betts averaged a near-20-point, 10-rebound double-double last season. She’s an attention magnet on the court, disrupting play at the rim with the motor needed to finish the work back up the court.

Ironically, though, to get the most out of Betts, Close has found she has to actually limit her time on the floor.

“When Lauren and I had our exit evaluation meetings last year, we both agreed that she needs to have less minutes,” said Close. “And honestly maybe even less shots, but more efficiency.”

“As a 6-foot-8 player, you get beat up so much before she even touches the ball,” Close continued. “I think it’s important that we protect her wherever we can.”

Betts is aware that physicality can sometimes throw her off her game. She’s now pushing to hone her tenacity at the rim while leveraging her size through double- or triple-teams.

“Just playing the game, making the right read, is something that’s really important for me, trusting that I know what to do on the floor,” Betts at reporters from USA Basketball training camp last month.

“Also aggressiveness, I think that’s something that I can always grow into.”

UCLA enters 2026 with fresh faces — and family ties

Close sees Betts at her best with nothing to prove individually and a little extra help under the basket. And they worked hard over the offseason to get her that support, shaking things up via both traditional recruiting and the transfer portal.

Take senior transfer Gianna Kneepkins, for example. The former Utah standout is giving the Bruins a scoring boost with 14.3 points per game while carrying minutes alongside more established starters.

“She’s been a pivotal puzzle piece for us in terms of having a 50/40/90 player that’s really able to stretch the floor. She’s making everybody better around her,” Close said of Kneepkins, as the newcomer provides a tall outside presence in the paint.

Close also credits second-year transfer Charlisse Leger-Walker. She’s bolstered the team off the bench after sitting out last season to rehab her ACL.

Betts’s biggest supporter, however, stems from a little closer to home. Lauren’s little sister Sienna, the No. 2 recruit in her class, joined the Bruins this season. And she shares many of her older sister’s attributes on the court.

Listed at 6-foot-4, the freshman can stretch defenses even without her big sister on the court, strengthening UCLA’s reach through negative runs while forcing opponents to game-plan for even more frontcourt power

“[I’m] just trying to help her as much as I can,” Lauren said of her sister prior to the season start. “Especially because we’re playing kind of the same position. Just trying to help her with the plays, help her with tough practices, kind of helping her move on.”

Unfortunately, a lower leg injury delayed Sienna’s college debut by 10 games. The younger Betts missed the loss to Texas, slowing down some of the flow Close is looking to build against a big-heavy lineup. But the plan for the Betts sisters is still very much in motion, even with limited playing time.

Reverse engineering success, one UCLA game at a time

Entering the new year with a healthy roster, UCLA will now have to balance expectations both inside and outside the locker room. Because regardless of how the season ends, significant change looms on the horizon.

“I think it’s really tempting to be championship or bust, and that could not be further from our mission,” Close explained.

“I am such a big believer that you talk about your end goal one time. And then you reverse engineer the process and habits it’s going to take to get there.”

“Just staying present, recognizing that this is also a new team,” senior Kiki Rice told JWS in October. “After what happened last year, there’s lessons in the past. [But we] really just focus on being our best versions of ourselves every day.”

UCLA might have fallen short against Texas last month. But they maintain faith that increased depth, veteran leadership, and a refreshed detail-oriented outlook can guide them all the way through the postseason.

“There were certain levels of preparation, certain ways that we needed to minimize distractions, certain ways we needed to handle all of the ways that are going to be pulling on our attention,” Close said of the team’s Final Four journey, noting that she also learned some major lessons herself.

For now, UCLA is enjoying the moment — and the process — with the hope that the wins keep coming this spring.

“This is probably the most complete team I’ve ever coached,” Close added. “If we can stay healthy and stay focused, we’re going to have big things ahead.”

As the world of women’s soccer approaches 2026, the last year may well be remembered for its dynasties.

Chelsea won a sixth straight WSL title, Euros champion England and Copa winner Brazil retained their continental crowns, and Gotham FC lifted a second NWSL trophy in three years.

The winds of change also began to blow in new directions, with Arsenal upsetting Barcelona to win the Champions League final, top NWSL talent departing the US for opportunities overseas, and Kansas City reminding everyone what happens when regular-season dominance meets playoff vulnerability.

Through it all the game continued to grow, with increasingly interesting results on both sides of the pond, as the ramp-up to the 2027 World Cup and a new slate of regional competitions coincide with an ever-shifting economic landscape

So instead of looking back, we’re keeping the spirit of progress alive by presenting five bold predictions for women’s soccer in 2026.

Sophia Wilson’s return: A top contender for 2026 NWSL MVP

News of USWNT Sophia Wilson’s impending return to the Portland Thorns gave NWSL fans a boost earlier this month, with the Triple Espresso forward signing a single-year extension with her original club team.

Expect Wilson to hit the ground running as she comes back from pregnancy. The 2022 NWSL MVP has been very consistent throughout her career, and she’ll be joined by other returning Thorns attackers to bolster her opportunities in front of goal.

Fellow extended Portland star Olivia Moultrie will be paramount to the 25-year-old’s MVP campaign, especially as Wilson looks to challenge two-time reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga.

Don’t bet against Wilson showing shades of Alex Morgan’s 2023 Golden Boot run. That's when the USWNT legend blew past expectations for what new mothers could achieve in their first season back on the pitch.

No repeat champs: Why the women's soccer guards are changing in 2026

Reigning WSL winner Chelsea’s repeat bid is already shaky, with Everton snapping their 34-game unbeaten streak earlier this month. And they’re preparing to enter the new year six points behind Manchester City in the league table.

Blues manager Sonia Bompastor has seemed to prefer a static roster rotation. Of course, she’s charged with managing players from two eras: ex-coach Emma Hayes’s success and the team’s modern iteration. If there was a time for a changing of the WSL guard, 2026 is the year.

Stateside, 2025 NWSL Shield winners Kansas City continue to navigate offseason changes. The Current will start 2026 under brand new leadership, after former head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced he’ll move to a Sporting Director role.

ESPN recently reported Kansas City’s plan to hire former MLS head coach Chris Armas in 2026. But without a formal announcement and the offseason clock ticking, the Current might run out of runway to set up a repeat bid.

2025 NWSL champion Gotham has both FIFA and Concacaf Champions Cup commitments this year, complicating their quest as they maneuver a jam-packed season. The club landed one major re-signing in Midge Purce, but forward Ella Stevens departed for expansion side Boston. Thus, the team is left relying on a title-winning core with an average age over 28.

Arsenal hasn’t looked too terribly far off their Champions League game yet. But the subsequent resurgence of Barcelona and OL Lyonnes could see the WSL on the outside looking in once the tournament reaches May's final.

Despite having a few worthy clubs — including strong newcomers Manchester United — the UK league’s chances of claiming another UWCL title appear overshadowed by mainland Europe’s renewed dominance.

Emma Hayes's USWNT: Expect major roster overhauls in 2026

USWNT coach Emma Hayes embraced change in 2025, giving 43 players their first national team cap this year — the most since 2001.

Though the approach came with some speed bumps. The US matching the single-year total loss record with three dropped matches.

Considering Hayes’s approach, it seems that the future of the USWNT has arrived much sooner than expected. And looking back, those losses actually made an emphatic argument for more lineup overhauls — not less.

The team’s November loss to Portugal showcased a veteran midfield trio in Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Heaps, and Sam Coffey. The lineup exposed the old guard’s weaknesses as the team looks to hold ground among the world’s elite.

Remember — Hayes made the call to leave Alex Morgan off the gold medal-winning 2024 Olympic roster. In doing so, she laid the groundwork for even bigger calls as the US gears up for a tough World Cup qualifying run in 2026.

The global talent war: NWSL salary cap faces European threats

The NWSL closes 2025 with flashy off-field headlines and waning on-field enthusiasm, as it attempts to grapple with a rash of overseas departures.

They’ve even gone so far as to institute a new “High Impact Player” rule allowing teams to exceed the salary cap for top talent. The move comes after rejecting the Washington Spirit’s blockbuster play for superstar striker Trinity Rodman.

Viewed as a half-measure to circumvent larger salary cap issues, the NWSL Players Association has come out against the newly approved mechanism.

The union is advocating for the league to raise the base salary cap across the board. This will help clubs keep up in an increasingly competitive global market without destroying parity.

Whether or not the two parties will reach a compromise remains to be seen. Meantime, it leaves NWSL fans to hope for a solution as wealthy European clubs continue to draw top free agents away from the US league.

Of course, money isn’t everything. Raising the salary cap won’t guarantee NWSL favorites remain Stateside, as another league’s pull features more than just a pay bump. Thoughugh should the NWSL figure things out in time, US clubs might bring in a few big names themselves.

Regardless, expect more players to test their abilities in new environments when the transfer window opens back up in January. And it's especially pressing considering the looming World Cup and its national team implications.

The 2026 Men’s World Cup will transform women’s soccer

International soccer’s largest event lands in the US next year, as the 2026 Men’s World Cup promises to reshape football fandom in this country and beyond.

The NWSL remains bullish on the tournament’s ability to convert soccer fans across gender lines. Though the competition itself is subsequently bound to have a serious and immediate impact on the women’s game.

The NWSL plans to pause for the duration of next summer’s World Cup. This is in part due to infrastructural strains, as the tournament takes over venues shared between men’s and women’s club teams. The USWNT’s World Cup qualifying campaign will also hit the breaks, rendering the team’s summer international windows largely meaningless.

And with Concacaf qualifiers kicking off immediately after the 2026 NWSL Championship, top players will have to balance commitments at the end of a long year.

No matter how the 2026 World Cup ends up influencing US soccer culture, it will inevitably present some challenges as the domestic women’s game pushes to be more than an afterthought alongside the sport’s biggest stage.

No. 3 South Carolina basketball suffered a blow this week, as top transfer Ta'Niya Latson exited the Gamecocks' 96-55 win over Providence with a lower leg injury on Sunday.

"She's smiling," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of Latson immediately following the game, offering an optimistic injury update. "She got treatment all through the second half."

The star senior guard, who turned 22 years old last Friday, joined South Carolina after leading Division I in scoring with Florida State last season.

This year, Latson's 16.9 points per game trails only sophomore forward Joyce Edwards's 21.4-point average on the Gamecocks' scoresheet.

While the full extent to Latson's injury and her potential time off the court is still unknown, any absence exacerbates the team's injury woes, as South Carolina lost standout forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury before the 2025/26 campaign tipped off — with the Gamecocks battling additional availability limits throughout their roster all month.

That said, with the recent returns of forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer from concussion protocol, the Gamecock bench is significantly less sparse, with both returnees impacting Sunday's South Carolina victory with a double-double.

Even more, Staley's squad will see additional roster relief when 18-year-old French center Alicia Tournebize joins the team midseason.

How to watch South Carolina basketball this week

The No. 3 Gamecocks will open the new year by tipping off their SEC slate on Thursday, when South Carolina hosts unranked Alabama at 2 PM ET.

The clash with the Crimson Tide will air live on SEC+.

The world's tennis stars are preparing to open 2026 play in Australia this weekend, with top WTA and ATP leaders on Team USA gearing up to defend their United Cup title starting this Friday.

The two-time champion US enters as the No. 1 seed in the fourth edition of the hard-court tournament, bolstered by the return of world No. 3 Coco Gauff to lead Team USA's six-player United Cup contingent.

With each tournament bout consisting of one WTA singles match, one ATP singles clash, and one mixed-doubles competition, Gauff notably claimed a straight-sets victory over Polish phenom No. 2 Iga Świątek to secure the 2025 title for the US.

"I'm super excited," the 21-year-old star said prior to this year's United Cup. "I had such a good time in my first year playing with the team, and I'm looking forward to going back."

With the 2026 Australian Open beginning in less than two weeks, the United Cup pits 18 national teams against each other as players from both the women's and men's tours tune up for next year's Slams.

Fellow WTA Top-10 stars Świątek and Italy's No. 8 Jasmine Paolini will join Gauff on the 2026 United Cup court, while fan favorite No. 16 Naomi Osaka will feature for tournament debutant Japan.

Also battling for national pride will be two winners of last season's WTA awards, with 2025 Newcomer of the Year No. 18 Vicky Mboko joining Team Canada and 2025 Comeback Player of the Year No. 11 Belinda Bencic competing for Switzerland.

How to watch the 2026 United Cup

The 2026 United Cup runs January 2nd through 11th, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.