For the South Carolina Gamecocks, the 2020-2021 season is all about unfinished business and building a legacy. In Dawn Staley’s 13th season as head coach, South Carolina is still in the process of cementing its position as a perennial powerhouse.

The top of the line recruiting that has become the standard for South Carolina was no more apparent than last season, when Staley brought in the top-ranked recruiting class in the country and started three freshmen all season on the way to an SEC championship and a No. 1 ranking in the AP and Coaches’ polls. Of course, with South Carolina in line for the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, and with regional play in Greenville, the tournament and the season were canceled, and there was no crowning moment.

What makes the unfinished business narrative so enticing is also what leaves it incomplete. The path to a national championship in 2020 was there, but it’s still waiting in 2021, 2022 and beyond. Staley and the South Carolina coaching staff are recruiting better than anyone right now, as last year’s success so readily indicates. And with a trio of experienced underclassmen leading the way, there’s really no limit as to how good this program can be.

The top-rated recruiting class coming into the season, South Carolina’s freshmen contributed immediately last year. Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke and Brea Beal put on a clinic on making the leap from high school, starting all 32 games. And while South Carolina lost its two senior starters, Ty Harris and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, to the WNBA draft, Staley says the two left a legacy of leadership. Already, the coach has credited Victaria Saxton with filling the void and leading the charge.

South Carolina, affected by the pandemic, returned to campus for the first time in mid-July. Even when the season seemed in doubt, Staley has never been worried about her team lacking motivation. The coach described her group as ultra-competitive, and coming off a dominating season with a 32-1 record and holding the nation’s longest winning streak, South Carolina will be ready to prove they can hang with anyone.

Like so many coaches, Staley has been forced to guide her team through a preseason program without knowing when or where games will be played. A complete schedule has to yet be released, but to hear Boston describe it, the team isn’t concerned.

“We’re not really sure what schedule we’re looking at or things like that, but we know the start date of November 25, so we just keep working no matter what, because we know something, something is going to come,” Boston said.

Last year, Boston became the first player in program history to be named the National Freshman of the Year. Rewriting the record books while averaging 12.5 points and 9.4 rebounds a game, Boston was also named the conference’s Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year. Cooke averaged 12.1 points per game, and Staley has said she considers the guard one of the most athletic players she has ever coached. Beal will only grow on her 6 points and 5.4 rebounds from her freshman season.

And of course, there are so many others poised to contribute. Destanni Henderson played some of her best basketball at the end of last season, getting named to the SEC All-Tournament team after a 4-for-9 performance against Arkansas in the semis. LeLe Grissett started games in both her freshman and sophomore seasons, averaged 6.4 points per game last season, and had the highest field goal percentage on the team at 62.8%. Laeticia Amihere, who missed four games while helping Team Canada qualify for the Olympics, averaged 1.1 blocks per game.

South Carolina added five star point guard Eniya Russell as the only member of the 2020 recruiting class, and Olivia Thompson, a walk on in the 2019 class, was awarded a scholarship and will look to build on her high school reputation of prolific 3-point shooting after making 11-of-36 in her first collegiate season.

Altogether, this is a deep, talented team, one that is paradoxically both young and experienced. And yet no matter what happens for South Carolina this season, this team’s business will remain unfinished. For the program to firmly establish itself as one of basketball’s unquestionable elites, dominating the next decade as thoroughly as UConn the last two, winning in 2021 would only be a first, but necessary step.

But if the Gamecocks prevail, watch out: The 2021 recruiting class is already the highest ranked in the nation, led by guard Raven Johnson, guard Saniya Rivers and forward Sania Feagin, the second through fourth-ranked players in the class, and guard Aubryanna Hall, who is ranked 14th.

Add those players to a defending champion and, well—let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s still 2020, after all.

The Tour de France Femmes confirmed its course for 2026 this week, setting up next year's event as the longest iteration of the race in the women's tour history.

The 2026 course will run in nine stages starting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on August 1st and continuing through the finish line in Nice, France, on August 9th.

Cyclists will cover a total of 1,175 kilometers, with 18,795 meters of climbing.

The course will feature three flat stages and three hilly stages as well as two mountain stages and one individual time trial, with riders tackling Mont Ventoux — an iconic climb from the men's event — for the first time.

Though 2026 will only by the fifth edition of the modern Tour de France Femmes, the race will make its debut in a standalone time slot one full week after the men’s race ends, with recent record viewership fueling the move to separate the races rather than continue the previous tactic of scheduling the two events back-to-back.

"We no longer need men for the Tour de France Femmes to exist,"  said race director Marion Rousse at Thursday's course unveiling. "There's no need to have the men's race as a platform to launch the women's race. Now people are waiting to see us."

"People have embraced us," Rousse continued. "The new dates, separate to the men, prove it."

This weekend's slate of international soccer features more than one blockbuster matchup, as some of the summer's top performers, including England and Brazil, begin the long process of preparing for the 2027 World Cup.

Reigning UEFA Women's Euro champions England will be hosting 2025 Copa América Femenina winners Brazil at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Saturday, when the Lionesses officially kick off their four-game Homecoming Series to close out 2025 play.

The match between world No. 4 England and No. 7 Brazil will serve as the first of the series of friendlies that will span the final two international breaks of the year, with the Lionesses closing out the opening pair of games against No. 15 Australia on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, while England fans will be enjoying the team's victory lap after their second-straight Euro title, other top UEFA competition are honing in on 2025 Nations League play.

Behind a long-range goal from winger Klara Bühl, No. 5 Germany snagged a narrow 1-0 victory over No. 6 France on Friday morning, taking the lead in the pair's two-leg semifinal.

The second Nations League semifinal round kicks off at 2 PM ET on Friday, when No. 1 Spain faces No. 3 Sweden live on Prime.

How to watch England vs. Brazil this weekend

England takes on Brazil at 12:30 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage streaming on Prime.

The Wings have found their next sideline leader, as multiple reports on Thursday linked longtime University of South Florida (USF) head coach Jose Fernandez to the open position in Dallas.

Fernandez is still finalizing his contract with the WNBA team, with the 53-year-old exiting USF having led the Bulls for 25 years, making 10 NCAA tournament appearances along the way.

Calling his impact "profound," USF athletics CEO Rob Higgins acknowledged that Fernandez is leaving for a WNBA position in a Thursday statement.

"While this is a bittersweet moment for our program, it is a well-deserved opportunity for Jose," said Higgins. "We are incredibly proud of him."

Replacing Chris Koclanes after one year, Fernandez will become the fifth Dallas head coach in seven seasons, with the Wings trying to build a title-contending roster around 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 1 pick and reigning Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers.

Fernandez will also be the third WNBA hiring out of the college ranks in the last two years, joining Atlanta Dream boss Karl Smesko (FGCU) and LA Sparks manager Lynne Roberts (Utah).

Hoping to improve on a 13th-place 2025 finish — and make the WNBA Playoffs for the first time since 2023 — Dallas could claim a second straight No. 1 draftee next year, with the Wings entering 2026 with the highest odds to snag the top pick in the league's draft lottery.

The WNBA league office and the Players Association (WNBPA) exchanged escalating public statements this week, as both sides dispute terms surrounding a key issue in the ongoing CBA negotiations: revenue sharing.

"When the players opted out [of their CBA] a year ago, they made it clear they wanted a salary system that values their labor and allows them to grow with the business they are very clearly driving," WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told ESPN in a statement this week, citing the vast disparity in revenue sharing percentages between the WNBA and the NBA.

Jackson continued by claiming that the WNBA intends to "run out the clock" and double down on a model that "intentionally undervalues the players."

Days ago, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said publicly that "[Revenue] share isn't the right way to look at it," pushing instead for salary increases in "absolute numbers."

WNBA leadership, however, denied that their current offer to players omits all revenue sharing, with the league calling the WNBPA's claim "incorrect and surprising," while indicating that an uncapped revenue sharing model "directly tied to the league's performance" is on the table.

"It is frustrating and counterproductive for the union to be making misrepresentations about our proposals while also accusing the league of engaging in delay," the WNBA's statement continued. "That is simply not true."

With both parties not seeing eye to eye, a resolution before the October 31st CBA deadline appears unlikely, though a formal request for an extension on negotiations is not currently in the cards.