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Sophia Smith and the 2020 draft class that reshaped the NWSL

Sophia Smith, the No. 1 pick of the Portland Thorns in 2020, won NWSL MVP last season. (Howard Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

On Thursday, the NWSL will hold an in-person draft for the first time since January 2020. On that day, weeks before the world shut down amid a global pandemic, a chaotic flurry of activity only possible on a draft day floor ushered in the next generation of star talent and dramatically reshaped the current player pool in the NWSL.

Top 2022 draft picks Sophia Smith, Ashley Sanchez, Taylor Kornieck and Morgan Weaver have been at the center of some of the biggest league moments in the last two years. But their journeys, which began at the 2020 draft, showed that even the best-laid plans for young talent can go awry.

Draft day chaos sets the scene

From the very first week of January 2020, Portland had targeted the first overall pick in the draft. On Jan. 8, the Thorns acquired the No. 1 pick from the Pride in exchange for the rights to USWNT defender Emily Sonnett and Australian international Caitlin Foord, as well as other draft picks. The understanding across the league was that the Thorns intended to select Smith, a sophomore out of Stanford and a U.S. youth national team standout.

With allocation money in play for the first time, the draft-floor moves weren’t relegated to the No. 1 pick. As soon as the draft began, deals materialized across the league. The Red Stars traded their No. 4 and No. 5 picks for the No. 2 and No. 3 picks held by Sky Blue (now Gotham), and then immediately flipped the No. 2 pick to Portland for later-round picks and $70,000 in allocation money, as well as No. 3 to Orlando for forward Rachel Hill and future draft assets.

The Washington Spirit then traded up, sending Mallory Swanson (née Pugh) to Sky Blue for the No. 4 pick and other assets, which included Sky Blue’s 2021 natural first-round pick.

In retrospect, before a single selection had even been made, those moves redefined the distribution of talent across the league for years to come. Portland selected Smith and Morgan Weaver with the first two picks in the draft, Orlando took Taylor Kornieck at No. 3, and Washington drafted Ashley Sanchez at No. 4.

All four players have become league mainstays since then, with Smith, Kornieck (now with expansion side San Diego) and Sanchez all making the USWNT roster for World Cup and Olympic qualifying. Smith is the superstar she was promised to be, scoring 11 goals for the U.S. and 14 for the Thorns in 2022 on the way to winning NWSL MVP, NWSL Final MVP and USWNT Player of the Year.

Smith and Weaver just missed out on the NWSL Shield with the Thorns in 2022 before helping the team win a league-record third championship in October. Sanchez won the 2021 NWSL Championship (alongside Trinity Rodman, the player the Spirit selected with Sky Blue’s 2021 first-round pick acquired in the 2020 deal), while Kornieck had a breakout year with San Diego in 2022, contributing to the best finish ever for an NWSL expansion team in its inaugural season.

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Morgan Weaver followed Sophia Smith to the Thorns as the No. 2 pick of the 2020 draft. (Jose Argueta/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The impact of the 2020 draft class also hasn’t been limited to the top four picks. Zoe Morse, Chicago’s third-round selection, blossomed into a cornerstone of the Red Stars’ defense two years later. Sam Hiatt, taken in the fourth round by OL Reign, is now a starting center-back for the 2022 Shield winners. Kate Del Fava and Addisyn Merrick, drafted in the second and fourth rounds, respectively, represented Kansas City against Smith and Weaver’s Thorns in the 2022 championship game.

The fourth round of the 2020 draft also produced Kaiya McCullough, who spoke out about the verbal abuse she experienced while playing for former Spirit coach Richie Burke and was a key voice in the NWSL’s recent reckoning over misconduct.

The rookie season that wasn’t

While the strength of the 2020 draft class is now obvious, their rookie year that followed was anything but expected. The pandemic suspended NWSL regular-season play for an entire year, replacing it with a one-month Challenge Cup in Utah.

“My first season was a little more just getting a feel for the league, like how I need to play, what I need to get better at,” Smith told Just Women’s Sports in October. “And now I feel like I can just be myself.”

“I actually was still in school at the time,” Weaver told Just Women’s Sports this summer about the early months of 2020. “I was doing all online classes so I could be here early to train.”

Soon, word spread that NWSL training had been suspended — first for a weekend, then a week, and finally indefinitely.

Smith, Weaver and company can be forgiven for needing a little extra time to find their feet in the pros. The 2020 rookies didn’t actually get to experience a full season until 2021, instead quarantining with each other while playing a 23-game tournament at the facilities of the then-Utah Royals.

“I think uncertainty is the right word to characterize that whole year, honestly, for everyone,” said Morse, who has since left the Red Stars to sign with WSL club Brighton & Hove Albion through 2024.

For Weaver and Morse, the twists and turns of the 2020 preseason mirrored the uncertainty of their first years as professionals.

“Whenever I’m asked about that year, I always say that I think it was honestly maybe easier for us rookies,” Morse said. “Because we had no idea what to expect compared to everyone else on the team.”

“I just wanted to know what was going on, and no one knew,” Weaver said. “And that’s the thing that I think helped me get through it, was no one knew what was going on.”

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Chicago's Zoe Morse and Washington's Ashley Sanchez, both 2020 draft picks, go head-to-head in the Challenge Cup. (Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In Utah, playing time came fast and furious, as did a lot of downtime. The pressures of making it through a month-long quarantine while playing high-level soccer, as the country reckoned with issues of racial injustice after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, forged quick bonds that had a ripple effect off the field.

“Once we got to Utah, we were essentially quarantined with our team for 34 days, or however long it was,” Morse said. “So I really got to make some connections with my teammates that I probably wouldn’t have in a typical season, just because we were literally eating every single meal together. We were with each other all the time.”

“I feel like in general, going somewhere and living there for a month in a bubble in a hotel, I think it made our team closer,” Weaver said. “Now looking back at it, I did enjoy the time that I was there, even though I also did not.”

The 2020 campaign delayed the beginning of what has become a dangerous partnership between Smith and Weaver. During last year’s championship run, Weaver took on more responsibility out wide to feed Smith centrally, contributing three assists and seven goals on top of Smith’s MVP campaign.

That summer, however, Smith missed the entire Challenge Cup with a knee injury, though she did play four games in the 2020 Fall Series.

“We never actually played with each other much in 2020,” Weaver said, noting it also took time to build chemistry with longtime Thorns captain and forward Christine Sinclair.

Smith credits Sinclair for helping her through her first two years with the Thorns. The No. 1 pick felt the pressure to perform, both internally and externally, but she found ways to stay patient.

“I feel like I found my place in Portland and within the team,” she said. “That goes to show a lot about my teammates and my coaching staff, who just allow me to do that to find myself and to really just be myself.”

Not every 2020 draftee progressed at the same rate, but many of them arrived in similar places in 2022 after getting a full season’s worth of experience. The short spurts of playing time in a Challenge Cup or a Fall Series contrast with the rigors of a regular season, and finding consistency in performance can be key to development.

Kornieck didn’t get the benefit of the 2020 Challenge Cup at all after the Pride had to bow out due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but she recognized how far she’s come during her second full season in the league.

“I think this is the first year where I was really starting to understand the concepts,” Kornieck told reporters after a match with San Diego last June. “I can see my growth from the past two years in the league now, [and] I owe it all to the team.”

Looking ahead to the 2023 season, the true rookies of 2020 are now closer to veteran status themselves, with hard-earned lessons informing the way they approach the game.

For Smith, even with all her accolades this past year, the pressures haven’t changed.

“I try not to change the way I look at things with the more success I have,” she said. “I still want to be Sophie and carry myself the same way.”

Morse, too, embraces the bigger picture.

“I think it shows on the field that [the 2020 draft class has] a bit of a different approach to the game, because we saw it get taken away in our first year,” she said. “Veteran players have similar situations when the leagues were folding and that sort of stuff. So this was kind of our iteration of seeing what we love doing being taken away, and just knowing that we are so grateful to be out here doing what we do.”

Smith was one of the first underclassmen to be drafted into the NWSL, but she will be far from the last. As the next wave of players hear their own names called on Thursday, they’ll have a chance to learn from the ones before them, whose rookie experiences were unlike anything seen before.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Nike Spotlights Global Women’s Soccer Stars in New United Pack Cleats

Nike United cleats pack promotional image showing headshots of women's soccer stars flanked by neon lights.
Nike tapped six international women's soccer stars for their latest cleats. (Nike Football)

Nike put global women's soccer stars in the spotlight last week, debuting their new Nike United Pack cleats collection.

For the first time ever, the apparel giant is bringing together six athletes to launch a series of performance cleats. The subsequent United Pack was developed collaboration with some of the sport's biggest international names.

The United Pack hit shelves last week with three styles of boots: Tiempo, Mercurial, and Phantom. Each boot is paired with two top international footballers, whose names are emblazoned on the heels of their cleats.

Of course, the United Pack collection is one part of a larger Nike initiative. In recent weeks, the brand has bet big on women's sports via everything from Super Bowl ads to signature shoes.

Three nike united pack women's soccer cleats hover against a purple background.
The purple and Volt United Pack lineup pairs players with updated Nike mainstays. (Nike Football)

Spain and USWNT get top Nike United Pack billing

Spain midfielder Patricia Guijarro and USWNT center back Naomi Girma are backing the Tiempos, while forwards Lauren James of England and Spain's 2023 World Cup champion Salma Paralluelo feature on the Mercurials. The Phantoms showcase USWNT attacker Sophia Wilson (née Smith) and her Portland Thorns teammate, Venezuela's Deyna Castellanos,.

The collection honors all six players by emblazoning their names onto the cleat's sock liner.

A purple and Volt colorway also links the line. As does the upper surface, which is designed to look like shattered glass in a nod to the "new generation of athletes breaking through to the next era in football."

"What I like the most about this boot is that it was created with six different players who come from different backgrounds and play for different teams, but we all came together to create something special that we can share with the world," said Wilson in a Nike's press release.

"Being a part of this boom and just making people respect women's sports is exciting," added Girma. "It's going to be even better for the next generation."

Where to buy Nike United Pack cleats

Fans can now purchase the Nike United Pack cleats online and at select retail locations.

NCAA Softball Shows Growing Parity as Clearwater Invitational Kicks Off

Oklahoma State's Tallen Edwards scoops a grounder at the 2024 Women's College World Series.
No. 10 Oklahoma State stumbled twice in their 2025 NCAA softball opening weekend. (BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK)

The 2025 NCAA softball season is off to the races, with early season stumbles from perennial powerhouses illustrating the sport's growing parity.

No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 Texas Tech, and No. 10 Oklahoma State all suffered weekend upsets. Tennessee fell 7-1 to No. 17 Nebraska while Texas Tech lost 3-1 to No. 19 Mississippi State in extra innings.

The Cowgirls, subsequently, turned heads during last weekend's Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.

After claiming a 9-6 victory over No. 9 Florida State on Thursday, Oklahoma State then stranded nine baserunners en route to a 6-1 loss to unranked Louisiana Tech on Friday.

After righting the ship with a mercy-rule blowout against Northern Colorado on Friday, the Cowgirls' bats fell short in a run-rule loss to the Seminoles on Saturday.

The 2-2 season start cost Oklahoma State six spots in the rankings, sending them sliding from their preseason No. 4 position.

Florida State catcher Michaela Edenfield looks up before the 2023 NCAA softball championship series.
Florida State will join other top NCAA softball teams at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational. (Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Top NCAA softball teams take aim at Clearwater's competition

The Cowgirls will have to get right back in the saddle. Oklahoma State will now join six other Top 25 programs in Florida for Thursday's Clearwater Invitational.

No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Texas A&M plus the Cowgirls and Seminoles lead the 16-team lineup. The SEC's No. 12 Alabama, No. 16 Missouri, and No. 24 Kentucky will also compete.

The annual event often serves as a postseason preview. This year's field includes three of last year's Women's College World Series contenders, with 14 represented in the 2024 NCAA tournament.

UCLA pitcher Taylor Tinsley winds up during a 2024 NCAA softball game.
No. 4 UCLA and No. 10 Oklahoma State will kick off the Top-10 tilts at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

How to watch NCAA softball at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational

All 40 games at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational will stream live across ESPN platforms. This includes 19 nationally televised matchups.

Clearwater runs Thursday through Sunday, with Oklahoma State kicking off the Top 10 action against UCLA at 3 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage of the Cowgirls vs. the Bruins will air on ESPN2.

Unrivaled Sets 1v1 Semifinals After Two Rounds of Head-to-Head Action

Mist BC's Aaliyah Edwards looks on during an Unrivaled 3x3 basketball game.
Aaliyah Edwards advanced to Unrivaled's 1v1 semifinals on Tuesday. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Unrivaled Basketball's 1v1 tournament blew through two rounds of cutthroat action on Tuesday night, setting up fierce competition for Friday's semifinals.

Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards, Rose forward Azurá Stevens, Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier, and Vinyl guard Arike Ogunbowale all advanced past their head-to-head opponents.

Each of the four semifinalists will take home at least $25,000, with $50,000 on deck for the tournament's runner-up and $200,000 awaiting the champion.

Additionally, with one player from four of Unrivaled's six teams still standing, two-thirds of the offseason league are still in the running for a piece of the $350,000 purse. The rules dictate that each 3×3 teammate of the champion will receive their own $10,000 check.

Edwards's star 1v1 turn propels her through Unrivaled quarterfinals

In what's shaking out to be the contest's top storyline, No. 8 seed Edwards shut out No. 1 seed Breanna Stewart 12-0 in the first round to earn a second-round bye. She then went on to take down a surging No. 3 seed Allisha Gray to secure a slot in the semis.

"Shouldn't be surprised," the 22-year-old Mystics star said after downing Gray 12-6. "Played my first year in the league, now I'm tapping into myself, and the confidence is showing and the work is showing."

Elsewhere, height and offensive versatility proved a winning formula for both No. 6 seed Stevens and No. 1 seed Collier, while No. 1 seed Ogunbowale is the last guard still standing.

All three ousted WNBA teammates to advance, with Ogunbowale sending her former Dallas Wings compatriot Satou Sabally out 12-8 while Collier handed fellow Lunar Owl and Minnesota Lynx contender Courtney Williams a 12-4 defeat. Stevens dominated her LA Sparks teammate Rae Burrell, sending her packing with a 12-2 victory.

How to watch Friday's Unrivaled 1v1 semifinals

Notably, Friday's semifinals will be heavy on UConn grads, with Notre Dame alum Ogunbowale the lone non-Husky hitting the court.

Ogunbowale will try to halt Edwards's run, while Collier and Stevens — who played together on two of UConn's Final Four rosters — will go head-to-head in the other semifinal.

Unrivaled's 1v1 semifinals and subsequent best-of-three championship series will tip off on Friday at 7:30 PM ET, with live coverage on TNT.

WNBA Considers Former Franchise Cities as Expansion Team Bids Mount

Charlotte Sting guard Dawn Staley directs a play during a 2002 WNBA game.
A bid to revive the Charlotte Sting has been submitted to the WNBA. (Garrett Ellwood/WNBAE/Getty Images)

The WNBA faces no shortage of cities interested in securing the league's 16th team. But some recent expansion bids are tapping into old memories and new promises as historic markets aim to get back into the game.

According to reports, the owners behind NBA side Charlotte Hornets are part of a group trying to bring back a team to the home city of the Charlotte Sting. The Sting were one of the original WNBA franchises, helping launch the league in 1997 before eventually folding in 2007.

The bid to return professional women's basketball to North Carolina is led by CardWorks SVP Erica Berman. The Berman family are already investors in Unrivaled, the offseason 3×3 basketball league that's currently stacked with WNBA stars.

Charlotte is far from the only vintage WNBA market hunting a return. The former hometowns of the Detroit Shock (1998-2009), Houston Comets (1997-2008), and Cleveland Rockers (1997-2003) have also entered the expansion ring, after all formally submitted bids to the league.

There's also new evidence that the WNBA is looking to revive some of the historic teams. Within days of the league's January 30th bid deadline, the WNBA filed trademark applications for the Sting, Shock, Rockers, Comets, and Miami Sol should any of those cities secure the newest franchise.

The Houston Comets' Roneeka Hodges, Sheryl Swoopes, and Dawn Staley discuss a play during a 2006 WNBA game.
Retro WNBA teams like the four-time champion Houston Comets could return to the league. (Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)

Rookie expansion teams join historic WNBA heavyweights

Though some cities have history on their side, competition is fierce when it comes to WNBA expansion. The league has seen an explosion of interest from numerous ownership groups all vying to receive a franchise nod.

In addition to the throwback cities, new markets in Austin, Denver, Kansas City, Nashville, and Philadelphia have also expressed a desire to join the league.

The WNBA is currently on track for 16 total teams by 2028, with Golden State, Toronto, and Portland already claiming the 13th, 14th, and 15th franchises, respectively.

With just one slot still up for grabs, leadership faces tough decisions as the league must turn down — or, at least, table — multiple bids as it considers a healthy growth rate.

However, for many ownership groups, building a WNBA team is more a matter of when, not if.

When asked about the Shock's potential return during a recent Detroit Pistons game, NBA commissioner Adam Silver cut to the chase.

"I actually think it’s really just a question of when the Shock comes back.," he said. "Over time, there’s going to be a lot of expansion in the WNBA." 

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