After an action-packed 14 draft selections in the NWSL Expansion Draft, Racing Louisville FC is out of the starting gates with an actual roster. The final two selections made the most noise, when club president Brad Estes announced that the team was selecting the rights to U.S. national teamers Tobin Heath and then Christen Press.

The two forwards with extensive USWNT experience are currently playing for Manchester United through the 2021 season, which ends in May. Neither Heath or Press were protected by their NWSL clubs, the Portland Thorns and Utah Royals, in the draft, making their rights available for Louisville to acquire.

Tobin was foundational.@richardfarley writes about @TobinHeath's indelible legacy in Portland: https://t.co/AQuNoWh2AJ | #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/DmpIT9XkOK

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) November 13, 2020

“We feel very good about tonight,” said Louisville coach Christy Holly on the Twitch broadcast. “There was a lot of decision making that went into it, a lot of homework, research, and conversations with coaches within the league, past players, and national team members so we felt we had a real good insight into what each player brought.”

Both Utah and Portland will gain $75,000 in allocation money because one of their allocated players was taken. While the future for Press and Heath is unknown, the decision could have vast consequences for both the upcoming trading period and the 2020 college draft. If Racing had not selected either, the club would have been given $150,000, which it could have used on the top pick of the draft. Catarina Macario of Stanford is the runaway favorite to be taken first overall, if she declares.

Thanks for the memories, best of luck with @RacingLouFC

????: https://t.co/LLjcSjb1Zq pic.twitter.com/tHFkNCAdyJ

— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) November 13, 2020

The Thorns left all three of their keepers unprotected, which left many fans speculating that one would surely be taken. Instead, because Louisville opted to take Heath from Portland, a U.S. allocated player, it could not take anyone else from the Thorns, leaving Racing to select Katie Lund and Michelle Betos as keepers.

Lund has been learning behind Aubrey Bledsoe with the Washington Spirit, while Betos has considerably more playing experience with seven seasons in the league, most recently with OL Reign, and is also a former Goalkeeper of the Year in the NWSL.

The former @NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year will be protecting our net!@MichelleBetos, so happy you're joining us.#RunWithUS | https://t.co/H2kbLpdCsz pic.twitter.com/qUy8TGdyHx

— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) November 13, 2020

The first player off the board was defender Addisyn Merrick, who made eight appearances for North Carolina in 2020. In last year’s college draft, she was the 28th overall pick, but boosted her standing through her play this season.

Paul Riley on Addisyn Merrick:

"She will be a stalwart for Louisville and her infectious desire, ambitious belief in herself, and tremendous engine make picking her a no-brainer. Massive loss in Courage Country but we wish her all the best"

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) November 13, 2020

Louisville also stacked its defense with Julia Ashley, the sixth pick in the 2019 draft. After a near nine-month recovery from a back injury she suffered while playing with Adelaide United in Australia.

While Alanna Kennedy is currently playing on loan in Tottenham from the Orlando Pride, Louisville selected the versatile Australian center back. Houston Dash’s Erin Simon was also selected and is a player that Holly coached previously with Sky Blue. The final defender taken, Kaleigh Riehl from Sky Blue, is also on loan right now with Paris FC. Riehl holds the NCAA Division I record for minutes played by an outfield player during her four years at Penn State.

One of the surprises was Jennifer Cudjoe — not that she was chosen by Louisville, but that she was available at all. After making the team through an open tryout, Cudjoe played in nine games for Sky Blue with seven starts in the midfield. Now, she’s heading to Louisville.

North Carolina’s midfield was poached with the selection of Lauren Milliet, who showed off her quality in both the Challenge Cup and Fall Series. The most used sub of 2019, Cece Kizer, was taken by Louisville as well. Currently, she is on a loan to Kolbotn IL but had previously signed a two year deal with the Dash.

Louisville also added pieces before the draft even started. Chicago sent over Yuki Nagasato and Savannah McCaskill to Louisville in exchange for full protection. The Red Stars also had to give Louisville an international slot in 2021 and 2022 and the fifth overall selection in the 2021 college draft. This now seems to have been a steep price, given how many of its players a team like Portland was able to keep.

Both Nagasato in the midfield and McCaskill on the front line will add a lot to their lavender and midnight violet club. Nagasato is one of the premier setup players in the league and will have an impressive front line with which to work.

In addition to Press and Heath, Caitlin Foord’s rights were taken by Louisville. The Australian with World Cup experience is currently playing for Arsenal, but her speed and experience were too much to pass up, even if it is not a guarantee that she will ever play in Lynn Family Stadium. Foord joined Arsenal in January and signed a two and a half-year deal with Arsenal, where she has contributed four goals and five assists in six league games.

Racing Louisville selected Caitlin Foord’s NWSL playing rights, but don’t expect her to leave Arsenal any time soon. https://t.co/Np9cso1Qjt

— The Socially Distanced Fuse (@TheShortFuse) November 13, 2020

Katie McClure, who made six appearances for Washington after being drafted 23rd overall, is an exciting forward. She will join her former Kansas teammate Merrick in Louisville.

Louisville also signed Cheyna Matthews, a forward who plays for the Jamaican national team, before the draft.

Let’s freaking go @RacingLouFC !!! Exciting things ahead!!!!

— Cheyna Matthews (@Cheynalee_) November 13, 2020

On the podium during the broadcast, Leigh Nieves of the supporter group Lavender Legion spoke about how she was “excited to have players to root for.”

Holly was also happy with the players that were selected and the research that went into the process. Overall, the team was looking for players that were “hungry” and “high caliber” even if they were unproven in the league. Louisville also opted for both positional and experience balance, with “players that align with what we’re trying to do culturally.”

The draft only marks the beginning of the craziness, as the trade window officially opens Friday.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.

Former Stanford leading-scorer Kiki Iriafen is set to join star rising sophomore JuJu Watkins at USC next year, reported ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday. 

The 6-foot-3 forward is coming off a breakout season with the Cardinal, where the then-junior led Stanford to the Sweet 16 with an average of 19.4 points, 11 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. Walking away with the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player award and a spot on the All-Pac-12 team, Iriafen entered the portal at the close of last season and was subsequently ranked second on ESPN’s 2024-2025 transfer ranking list.

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At USC, Iriafen will play out her senior year alongside the Women's Basketball Coaches Association’s 2024 National Freshman of the Year JuJu Watkins, forming what could be an explosive partnership for the Trojans as they look to build momentum going into next season. The Southern California side advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1994 this year, ultimately falling to UConn in a heated 80-73 battle.

Iriafen wasn’t the only one making choices this past week. LSU guard Hailey Van Lith officially announced her own transfer to TCU on Friday, while Princeton standout Kaitlyn Chen committed to UConn for her final year of college eligibility. Other big names still weighing their options are Oregon State's Talia Von Oelhoffen and Raegan Beers, as well as UNC's Deja Kelly.

With conference realignment on the horizon and team fit a contending factor, the NCAA women's basketball transfer portal has been busier than ever. And while transfers can bolster many types of college programs, this particular offseason has seen talent-rich programs growing even richer.

Legendary WNBA superstar Candace Parker announced her retirement from professional basketball on Sunday, effective immediately.

"I promised I'd never cheat the game & that I'd leave it in a better place than I came into it," she wrote in an Instagram post. "The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it's time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it."

The Las Vegas Aces forward was in the midst of rehabbing a right ankle injury and a left foot fracture after missing part of the 2023 season.

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One of women's basketball's most prominent trailblazers, Parker popularized the play of a "big guard." A back-to-back NCAA National Championship winner with Tennessee, she was drafted No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2008. She was named both WNBA MVP and Rookie of the Year in her debut season with the league. 

Parker exits the pros a three-time WNBA champion, a two-time league MVP, seven-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time NCAA champion, in addition to many more individual accolades. Throughout her 16-year career, she averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, and four assists per game. She remains the only player in WNBA history to earn three WNBA titles with three different teams: LA in 2016, Chicago in 2021, and Las Vegas in 2023. 

In her announcement, the 38-year-old implied the physical toll of league play was a driving factor in her ultimate decision to walk away from the game, despite recently signing a one-year deal with Las Vegas.

"This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating," she wrote. "It’s no fun playing in pain (10 surgeries in my career) it’s no fun knowing what you could do, if only…it’s no fun hearing 'she isn’t the same' when I know why, it’s no fun accepting the fact you need surgery AGAIN.

"I’m grateful that for 16 years I PLAYED A GAME for a living & DESPITE all the injuries, I hooped," she continued. "I’m grateful for family, friends, teammates, coaches, doctors, trainers & fans who made this journey so special."

Fans weren’t the only ones shocked by Parker’s surprise retirement. In a reaction captured on video, Liberty forward Breanna Stewart responded to the news with a jaw-dropped, eyebrow-raised "What? Wow." 

Yet while the Naperville, Illinois native’s time on the court might be over, Parker says she isn't leaving the world of basketball anytime soon.

"This is the beginning," she wrote. "I’m attacking business, private equity, ownership (I will own both a NBA & WNBA team), broadcasting, production, boardrooms, beach volleyball, dominoes (sorry babe it’s going to get more real) with the same intensity & focus I did basketball."