Cheryl Reeve was announced as the next head coach of the United States women’s national basketball team on Wednesday. The longtime Minnesota Lynx head coach and general manager called her appointment an “honor” during the introductory press conference.

Reeve said she was humbled to be considered among greats (and former U.S. coaches) like Van Chancellor, Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley, calling Team USA “one of the greatest sports dynasties ever.”

“It’s the penultimate in coaching — ask any coach. Only a few people get the opportunity,” Reeve said Wednesday.

Reeve has been a part of the USA Basketball system since 2014. As an assistant coach, she’s helped the team win two Olympic gold medals in 2016 and 2020, two FIBA World Cup titles in 2014 and 2018 and the FIBA AmeriCup crown in 2019. With Reeve on the coaching staff, Team USA has amassed a 57-4 record and gone a perfect 38-0 in official FIBA competitions.

“Cheryl Reeve is a coach who has been successful on multiple levels of the game,” retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, USA Basketball chairperson, said in a release. “With five international gold medals as an assistant on the coaching staff of our USA National Teams and a combined six WNBA championships as a head coach and an assistant, USA Basketball believes there is no one more qualified than Cheryl to follow Dawn Staley and continue the legacy of success that defines this program.”

The first acting WNBA coach to lead Team USA since Chancellor, Reeve has won four WNBA titles and made two other WNBA Finals appearances in her 11-year career with the Lynx. She’s also been named WNBA Coach of the Year three times, most recently in 2020. Under Reeve, the Lynx own the longest active playoff streak in the league.

After the Tokyo Olympics, when Staley said she would be stepping down as head coach, she recommended Reeve as her successor. At the time, Reeve said she thought Staley should stick around, but if she were to leave, whoever replaced Staley should be a WNBA coach. When asked about those statements on Wednesday, Reeve was quick to joke that her dad “didn’t raise a dummy.”

“If Dawn didn’t want to do it anymore, I wanted to make sure I had a shot at it,” Reeve said. “I just thought that it would be a case with professional players mostly that we have some good pro coaches and I wanted to make sure that we were front and center for these opportunities.”

Reeve understands the expectations that come with being head coach of the U.S. national team. She’ll lean on her experience as she looks to lead Team USA to an eighth straight Olympic gold medal in Paris in 2024.

“I’m ready for it,” she said. “We’ve had expectations here in Minnesota for a long time. We meet those expectations with the way that we conduct our business, and I plan to do the same thing for USA Basketball.

“The culture matches what we preach here in Minnesota, so it was an easy thing to be a part of. The sacrifice that everyone makes for the common good, to bring home a gold medal for our country, there’s nothing greater than that. To be selected as someone to lead that, it’s a great honor.”

The roster selection process will be challenging, with so much talent in the WNBA and coming through the pipeline. Past choices have led to controversy, such as the decision to leave Nneka Ogwumike off of the 2020 Olympic team, which is still receiving criticism.

Reeve, 55, said Wednesday that she’s ready to face the storm head on.

“I just feel so excited to get started. I can’t wait,” she said. “We have a tremendous amount of talent in the WNBA and the college ranks, if you’re watching. There’s a lot of talent. I know there’ll be some new faces.”

“I’m still working on Sue,” she joked. “See if maybe she can still be one of our old faces. Not much luck so far, but we’ve still got time.”

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.