The total number of rostered players four weeks into the WNBA regular season is roughly 140, not quite the 144 spots allotted by the league due to the financial jigsaw puzzle of fielding a competitive team within the salary cap. Of those 140 current players, 23 are rookies this season.

Here at JWS, we’ll be checking in periodically on the 2022 rookie class to keep you up to date on how they’re stacking up in the competitive WNBA.

Now that most teams have clocked at least 11 regular season games, five rookies have set themselves apart as clear overachievers, demonstrating value on the court that is significantly higher than their predicted value. One is a wildly popular NCAA champion point guard, one is an undrafted free agent making her W debut at age 31, and three are first-round draft picks already exceeding high preseason expectations.

1. Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream, age 22

ESPN Fantasy: preseason ranking — 34th, currently 14th in fantasy points per game

Coming in at number one is none other than the top overall pick of the 2022 WNBA Draft. The rookie with the highest expectations earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors her very first week in the league, something no other rookie had done since Tamika Catchings in 2002. Not even heralded players like A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi or Sue Bird achieved that mark.

Howard then became only the seventh player in WNBA history to score more than 100 points in her first five games. After averaging 20.5 points per game through her first six, her scoring cooled off in Week 3. Still, she is 11th league-wide in points per game and is leading the Dream in scoring and is top three in steals, blocks, and assists. In both win shares and player efficiency rating (PER), two stats that aim to measure the actual value a player provides when they are on the court, Howard is contending with the best in the league, currently ranking seventh and 21st, respectively.

At the end of Howard’s record-breaking career at Kentucky, where she departed as the program’s all-time leading 3-point shooter, it was still unclear if she’d go No. 1 in the draft. The draft lottery-winning Mystics even traded down, willingly passing off the opportunity to draft her. Analysts questioned whether she had the motor required to maintain maximum effort up and down the court at the next level. Through the first month of the season, Howard has led Atlanta to its best start since 2017 and silenced all questions about whether she was worth the No. 1 pick.

2. Shakira Austin, Washington Mystics, age 22

ESPN Fantasy: preseason ranking — 87th, currently 61st in fantasy points per game

This is no knock against NaLyssa Smith, the No. 2 pick out of Baylor who has seamlessly transitioned to the pro level with the Fever, but her expected value was already as high as she’s revealing it to be. This is about Shakira Austin, the 6-foot-5 center out of Ole Miss who didn’t get as much mainstream attention until draft night after the Rebels lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Those who had seen Austin play knew she had a lot to offer as a dynamic defender who can protect the basket and hold her own against smaller perimeter players. And she’s been producing on both ends of the court right off the bat, averaging 8.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game. Most notably, she’s currently ranked second in the league in field goal percentage (60.3 percent) and twelfth in total rebound rate (16.3 percent).

Having started eight of the Mystics’ 12 games, Austin has proven herself against some of the league’s best, holding Sylvia Fowles to 13 points in just her second career game. And among her rookie peers, she has the highest PER and is second highest in win shares.

3. Rebekah Gardner, Chicago Sky, age 31

ESPN Fantasy: preseason ranking — 149th, currently 66th in fantasy points per game

When filling the final rookie-scale salary spots on their roster, coaches either go for college draftees with steep learning curves but potentially high ceilings long-term, or veteran players from the overseas market who can fill immediate on-court gaps but have likely reached their ceiling. When the latter option reveals a much higher ceiling than expected, it’s like finding a unicorn.

The WNBA’s leading unicorn for 2022 is 31-year-old Rebekah Gardner, who played at UCLA from 2008-12 and then on a variety of teams in Europe over the past decade before finally breaking into the WNBA this season with James Wade’s Chicago Sky.

Rebekah Gardner worked for this bucket 💪 pic.twitter.com/FPCzpfVEVn

— espnW (@espnW) May 19, 2022

Gardner wasted no time in leaving her mark, currently averaging nine points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game and ranking fifth in the league in shooting percentage. Serving as the backup to last season’s Finals MVP, Kahleah Copper, Gardner brings composure and tenacity from her experience playing against many of the league’s best while abroad. Of the rookie class, Gardner is third in scoring and fourth in both win shares and PER.

4. Destanni Henderson, Indiana Fever, age 23

ESPN Fantasy: preseason ranking — 147th, currently 80th in fantasy points per game

Destanni Henderson claims the fourth-place spot on our overachievers list, not for any lack of fanfare after her stellar performance in South Carolina’s run to the NCAA championship, but because 19 other rookies were selected before her on draft night. Granted, had she not put on one of the best showcases of her college career in the national championship game, her going 20th overall would not have raised too many eyebrows. Nonetheless, Henderson has quickly proven her stock is worth more than that.

DESTANNI HENDERSON 🤯 @dh3nny pic.twitter.com/sLrTwKCZOO

— WNBA (@WNBA) May 27, 2022

In just her second game at the pro level, she put up 19 points, three assists, three rebounds and two steals and went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Henderson, mostly coming off the bench for the Fever, is averaging 7.2 points and 2.8 assists per game and has continued to hit shots from deep, currently ranked second in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (51.9). Within her rookie class, Henderson is second overall in assists per game, third in PER and fifth in win shares.

5. Queen Egbo, Indiana Fever, age 21

ESPN Fantasy: preseason ranking — 100, currently 49th in fantasy points per game

It should be no surprise that Indiana has two top-five overachieving rookies — the Fever had the highest number of first-round draft selections in the history of the league with four this year. Queen Egbo, a center out of Baylor, just barely edged out teammate Emily Engstler, a forward from Louisville, for our (highly coveted) fifth-place spot.

The two bigs are neck-and-neck in practically every stat sheet. Egbo is averaging 6.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, while Engstler is recording 6.8 points, seven rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. Engstler also is currently second league-wide in offensive boards per game. But in almost every other statistical category, Egbo is either right by her side or slightly ahead. Even in league-wide and fantasy stat sheets, if you scan for one name, the other is lurking very close by. So, it really comes down to preseason expected value.

Engstler was the higher pick, taken fourth overall with Egbo going six picks later. Engstler’s ESPN preseason fantasy ranking was 80, and though her jump to 53rd in fantasy points per game is impressive, Egbo has the upper hand, rising from 100th to 49th. Both have quickly proven worthy of taking up two highly coveted WNBA roster spots, and we suspect they will for many years to come.

Underachievers

Overachieving during your rookie season is no guarantee of sure footing in the WNBA. Look no further than 2020 Rookie of the Year Crystal Dangerfield, who bounced around the league to start the year before landing with New York. But underperforming is a much harder trench to climb out of.

Two first-round draftees — Lexie Hull (IND) and Veronica Burton (DAL) — went higher than expected in the draft (much higher in Hull’s case), and are now up against inflated expectations as both have dropped in fantasy rankings from where they started. Granted, you have to get playing time in order to perform or underperform, and those were always going to be hard to come by for Hull and Burton this season. Hull is averaging seven minutes and Burton is getting 11.3 per game, but both are in the bottom 5 percent of the league in PER. If they can prove their value in practice day in and day out, their chance to establish themselves in the WNBA may come down the road.

The same will be true for Naz Hillmon (ATL), Kierstan Bell (LVA) and Nia Clouden (CON), three other first-round picks who have yet to prove whether they are here to stay. The highly anticipated WNBA expansion can’t come soon enough for many in this year’s rookie class.

Tessa Nichols is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports.

Sophia Smith isn't much of a gamer. 

"It just does not come naturally to me," the Portland Thorns and USWNT forward tells Just Women's Sports with a laugh. "I think with more practice, I could get good."

Whatever skills Smith may lack on the virtual pitch are made up in full by her talent on the actual one. And that talent has ironically earned her an outsized on-screen role in the popular soccer video game EA Sports FC.

Earlier this week, the 24-year-old earned her second-straight spot on EA Sport's Team of the Year. The honor that places her alongside international heavyweights like Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati, Chelsea's Lauren James, and Lyon's Wendie Renard.

While gaming might not have been front of mind when Smith won Olympic gold in Paris last summer, she has noticed how FC 25 has become an essential way for soccer fans to get to know their favorite players. The franchise only started fully integrating NWSL teams in 2023, but Smith's rise to in-game prominence was swift. 

Her avatar is regularly featured in national TV commercials, scoring in both a Thorns and a USWNT jersey alongside men's soccer stars like Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham. It might be just a video game, but FC 25 feels increasingly like one of the few platforms that views both sides of the sport as having equal potential.

The phenomenon is not lost on Smith. She says that from time to time fans will recognize her not from the Olympics or an NWSL championship appearance, but from the video game. "When people have the ability to play with women in a game that they've played all their life, it opens a whole new door for us," she says.

"It's so great for women in sports, because it shows that we also deserve to be in a game," she continues. "We also deserve to have that platform, to have our names out there at the same level as the men."

EA FC levels the playing field

While the EA FC 25 Team of the Year is voted on by fans, the breadth of leagues in this year's lineup also calms some of the debates currently raging within the women's side. It's no secret that NWSL players sometimes have trouble gaining traction in top European awards. This is a tension that Smith herself has faced before her US national team breakout.

"I do think the NWSL isn't recognized enough," says Smith. "People have a lot of opinions on it, maybe people who don't even watch any games. That can be frustrating because it's a very challenging league to play in — every game is competitive."

To prove her point, she references the time it's taken for her USWNT teammate and fellow Stanford alum Naomi Girma to gain recognition on the international stage. If there were any player she could add to EA FC's Team of the Year, she adds, it'd be the San Diego Wave center-back — "and not just because she's my best friend." The growing global market for NWSL-based players like Girma and Smith likely won't silence critics promoting European-style football over American. But Smith sees differences across leagues as an asset for a player, not a problem.

"Either league could be good for any player for a number of reasons," she explains. "You can learn something in Europe that you can't learn here, and vice-versa. That's why players go back and forth."

"I believe that every league that exists can be challenging in its own way, and we're all just trying to figure it out," she continues. "FC having women in the game — women from the NWSL and European leagues — just puts us all as equals as we should be. It allows you to determine someone's game based off someone's game, not if they play in Europe or the NWSL."

Focusing on USWNT growth in 2025

Smith's game speaks for itself. Coming off a disappointing 2023 World Cup, the forward scored three goals and registered two assists during the USWNT's Olympic run, leading the team to their first major tournament trophy since 2019. Her club contributions were similarly impressive. She scored 12 regular-season goals alongside six assists despite Portland's failure to make it past the 2024 quarterfinals.

But the year took a toll, and Smith says that prioritizing rest has been essential to preparing herself for everything 2025 has to offer.

"I feel like this offseason was very much needed for me," she says. "While it was a great year, it was a long year — we just gave everything 110%, 24/7, so when we got to the offseason, it kind of just smacked us in the face."

Smith says she's physically bouncing back after a lingering ankle injury limited her playing time in the later half of 2024. "Most offseasons I'll take a few weeks and I'll start training," she says. "This offseason I took a little longer. I knew that in order to start this next year off right, I needed to give my body what it needed while I could."

With no major US tournaments set for 2025, Smith is looking forward to seeing the national team continue to gel and evolve. She's a big believer in USWNT manager Emma Hayes's "If it's not broken, break it" ethos. It makes her excited to push herself and her team to take things to the next level. 

Bringing the EA FC Team of the Year energy back to Portland

Smith also has work to do in the NWSL. She's rejoining a Portland club that saw multiple legends of the game step away after 2024's uncharacteristic sixth-place finish. As a leader, she wants to see the Thorns back at the top of the table. And she hopes to carry on the legacy of retired stars like Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Meghan Klingenberg.

"Since I arrived in Portland, every year there's been change. I'm just used to it at this point," she says. "The best thing we can do as players is stick together, really just show up for each other every day. And work towards the same goal, which is to win."

"It's easier said than done," she admits. "I'm used to being one of the younger players on the team. I still am, but I have more experience. I feel like I can be a leader in a different way."

With 2024's triumphs behind her, Smith views the new year as an opportunity to improve without the intense pressure of a major tournament. As always, the goal comes down to one simple thing: growth.

"I'm not the loudest person," she says. "But I can lead by example and show up every day, trying to be the best version of myself and helping those around me get better, too."

Making connections on and off the screen

One thing Smith can guarantee is that she'll continue to connect with fans. That goes whether it's signing autographs after a match or finding the back of the net in EA FC 25. 

"It wasn't that long ago that I was that little kid, watching people I grew up looking up to," she remembers. "If they took a minute out of their day to say hi or to sign something, that stuff means a lot." 

"So I try to be that person for people. If I can do that through FC, if I can do that in real life, I always take the opportunity."

Some of the NWSL's brightest stars made headlines this week, as the league's free agency transfer window continues to turn heads both at home and abroad.

Brazil forward Kerolin is officially departing North Carolina after spending all three of her NWSL seasons with the Courage, the club confirmed on Wednesday. The 2023 NWSL MVP will reportedly head to the WSL's Manchester City in a deal extending through 2028.

Sources are also linking two-time NWSL Defender of the Year Naomi Girma to the first $1 million transfer offer in women's soccer history, courtesy of French side Lyon and UK titans Chelsea and Arsenal. The 24-year-old USWNT star's current contract with the San Diego Wave runs through 2026, making a transfer fee a necessary part of any earlier deal.

The current record for a women's soccer transfer fee is $860,000, which Bay FC shelled out to receive Zambian forward Rachael Kundananji from Spain's Madrid CFF in February 2024.

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More NWSL teams make moves to lock down contracts

NWSL preseason has already started for select clubs, with teams putting the final touches on solidifying both their rosters and front offices.

Angel City hired former Portland Thorns FC and Washington Spirit head coach Mark Parsons as the club's new sporting director on Wednesday. The franchise is still searching for a permanent head coach after parting with boss Becki Tweed in December.

The 2022 expansion team also signed veteran forward Christen Press to a new one-year contract, per a Friday morning press release.

Meanwhile, with Girma's possible departure dominating the rumor mill, the Wave announced the addition of 17-year-old UNC defender and 2024 College Cup champion Trinity Armstrong to the club's ranks on Thursday.

Though Girma's fate is yet to be confirmed, San Diego's decision to pick up a talented young center back — on a three-year contract, no less — supports the theory that the USWNT standout is on the move.

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball tips off its inaugural season on Friday night, when four of the league's six clubs will take the court for the first time.

The Miami-based league's debut doubleheader begins with a co-founder face-off, as Breanna Stewart's Mist will first square off against 2024 WNBA Finals foe and fellow Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier's Lunar Owls.

Shortly after that inaugural game, Rose BC, whose roster includes top-rated 2024 rookie Angel Reese plus WNBA Finals MVPs Kahleah Copper (2021) and Chelsea Gray (2022), will take the Unrivaled court. Facing them in Friday's nightcap will be Vinyl BC, a team headlined by WNBA Rookies of the Year Aliyah Boston (2023) and Rhyne Howard (2022).

The two remaining Unrivaled teams will debut on Saturday afternoon, when Phantom BC takes on Laces BC in another 3×3 doubleheader.

Led by All-Stars like Brittney Griner and reigning WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu, the Phantom will start the season without guard Marina Mabrey due to a calf strain. Her recovery is expected to take two to four weeks, with an injury re-evaluation set for late January. In the meantime, the Phantom have added relief player Natisha Hiedeman to their short-handed roster.

IT'S GAME DAYYYYYYY! 🗣️ Make sure you tune in tonight at 7pm ET! pic.twitter.com/vAZ2IkemoF

— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) January 17, 2025

Unrivaled stars prepare for their close-up

The innovative new league is launching with 36 of the WNBA's biggest stars, a brand new 3x3 format, and a product finely tuned for national TV broadcast. The goal is to bring fans even closer to their favorite athletes.

Subsequently, Unrivaled has teamed up with six US bars "dedicated to elevating women's sports" in an effort to promote official watch parties nationwide.

"The content piece and the TV piece of this is huge for us," Collier told The Athletic ahead of Friday's launch. "We want to make it the most interactive, fun, and exciting experience we can for people."

With a smaller court and cameras positioned closer to the action than in WNBA games, Unrivaled is aiming to bring a small-venue experience to a national audience.

"It’s definitely intimate, and you’re definitely going to hear a lot of stuff," Mist athlete Jewell Loyd told The Athletic. "But at the same time, that’s what you want, and it’s definitely going to make us play a little harder."

How to watch Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball this weekend

The new 3x3 league will tip off with the Mist and Lunar Owls at 7 PM ET on Friday, with Rose BC and Vinyl BC following at 8 PM ET.

All Unrivaled games will air across TNT, truTV, and Max throughout the season, with Friday's tip off broadcast live on TNT.

With the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season in full swing, top collegiate athletes are already eyeing mid-April's national championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike elite gymnastics, where difficulty can outweigh execution, the college level values precision over big tricks, so Division I athletes all aim for perfect 10s in their competition performances.

Despite this difference, many of the world's most decorated elite gymnasts also compete in the NCAA. Two-time Olympian Jade Carey is back for her senior season with No. 14 Oregon State while her US teammate in both Tokyo and Paris, Jordan Chiles, is entering her junior year at No. 11 UCLA.

The Bruin, who took the 2024 NCAA season off to prepare for last summer's Olympics, will attempt to reclaim the national titles on uneven bars and floor exercise that she earned in 2023.

Top teams poised for the podium

After earning their first national title last spring, No. 2 LSU is hitting the 2025 mat armed with a stacked roster, headlined by 2024 all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and social media star Livvy Dunne.

Add in last year's freshman phenom Konnor McClain, whose prowess on the balance beam ultimately clinched LSU the NCAA trophy, and 2024 Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, who opened her NCAA career with a 9.825 vault two weeks ago, and the Tigers are more than capable of a back-to-back run.

LSU isn't the only SEC team predicted to make a deep run this season, as the conference is once again flush with perennial contenders.

Elite US stars Kayla DiCello and early Freshman of the Year frontrunner Skye Blakely will join two-time US Olympic alternate Leanne Wong in trying to return No. 7 Florida to the NCAA championship meet. At the same time, new SEC team No. 1 Oklahoma, winner of seven of the last 10 NCAA trophies, could see senior Jordan Bowers de-throne Bryant for the 2025 all-around title.

Also causing early national championship chatter are 2024 finalists No. 5 Cal, who return two of the country's best all-arounders in senior Mya Lauzon and junior eMjae Frazier, and Big Ten champs No. 6 Michigan State, whose veteran-heavy lineup boasts stars Skyla Schulte and Sage Kellerman.

How to watch NCAA gymnastics this weekend

Some of the country's top NCAA gymnasts will take the mat when No. 7 Florida visits No. 2 LSU at 7:30 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.