HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Hi Hoops Fans!

The 2025 WNBA Free Agency period has been WILD! And everyone should keep an eye on the Indiana Fever, as I discussed on the latest episode of Gotta Get Up!

A member of our Slack Community created a WNBA Free Agency Tracker and Brian will dig deeper in today’s newsletter.

PLUS, Athletes Unlimited is officially back! With two domestic offseason leagues in action all the way up to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, we will offer a double dose of the WBB Roundup on Thursday.

BLACK HISTORY FACT

You may know the story about Carolyn Peck, the first Black woman to lead an NCAA WBB program to a national championship, sharing a piece of her net with Dawn Staley.

But have you kept up with the ripple effect?

Staley has since shared pieces of her (at the time) two NCAA Championship nets with Black women coaches in the NCAA, Cal head coach Charmin Smith has instituted the Raising the B.A.R Invitational, and there are more Black women head coaches in women’s basketball than ever before. Dawn Staley is now the highest-paid coach in NCAA women’s basketball history.

Last season, I wrote about how Staley also impacts WBB coverage and why she continues to elevate the sport she loves, although her legacy is already cemented.

With love,

Erica L. Ayala, Head Black Rosie in Charge (HBIC)

📻 2025 FREE AGENCY CHANGES LANDSCAPE

FEVER RISING!

Let’s start with the new-look Indiana Fever!

Poaching Stephanie White from the Connecticut Sun was just the first move.

In addition to getting Sophie Cunningham and Jaelyn Brown, the team signed veterans and former WNBA champions Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner in free agency.

Tash and DB give the young Fever plenty of big-game experience and boosts to the frontcourt.

At her best, Howard can do a little bit of everything on both sides of the ball. Bonner will serve as the Fever’s starting small forward, and she can move up to the four positions in small-ball lineups.

With the big three of Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Caitlin Clark, the Fever have a foundation that should be in contention for many years to come.

Clark, the 2024 Rookie of the Year recently weighed in on the offseason moves

After exceeding expectations in 2024, the Fever will enter 2025 with exciting new goals. Maybe home-court advantage in the first round, or perhaps something even greater?

Only time will tell.

Whew! But this is a new era of the WNBA and the party’s just getting started!

THE SUN IN THE DESERT

Along with AT, Tyasha Harris made her way to the Valley in exchange for Natasha Cloud and Rebecca Allen. As you can see, there were a LOT of moving parts to this arrangement.

Since he purchased the Phoenix Mercury and Phoenix Suns in 2023, Mat Ishbia has made it a point to be as competitive as possible.

He invested in a new training facility, has spent a lot of money on coaching, and now has another All-WNBA talent to help Phoenix’s quest to return to the WNBA Finals.

On February 1, the Mercury traded for former Dallas Wings All-Star Satou Sabally. Sabally joins Phoenix after spending the first five seasons of her career with the Dallas Wings.

All the signs pointed to Satou joining the Mercury, and now she will be joining a club that expects to compete for homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

ATL (Getting) DOWN

Not to be outdone, the Atlanta Dream have made waves in free agency as well. The ownership group of Larry Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair, and Renee Montgomery have worked to make Atlanta a destination for fans and free agents alike.

The Dream have made the playoffs the past two seasons, but haven’t won a postseason game since 2018.

Atlanta is hoping to break the drought and make their city a WNBA hotbed now and in the future. They’re off to a great start this off-season.

After 11 seasons with the Mercury, Brittney Griner decided to make a change. BG joined the Dream and broke the news in an adorable video with her new teammates

Not to be outdone, the Dream signed former All-Star Brionna Jones to a contract as well.

Last week in the roundup, we mentioned that 2024 felt like a “last stand” for the Aces. The same could be said for the Sun, and the gritty Sun that we have come to know will be a LOT different going forward.

Since the end of the Finals, the Sun have lost:

• Head Coach Stephanie White

• Alyssa Thomas

• Dijonai Carrington

• Tyasha Harris

• Brionna Jones

• DeWanna Bonner

The Sun did re-acquire Rebecca Allen in the Thomas trade, but Bec was quickly re-routed to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Lindsay Allen.

After years of championship contention, Connecticut will be starting over with a rookie head coach and various questions up and down the roster.

As the sun sets on this era of Connecticut basketball, ownership will have to figure out a way to make their team an attractive destination for players to join. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but it’s a challenge they should face head-on.

GOLDEN STATE MAKES A MOVE

The newest franchise on the block recently moved to bring veteran guard Tiffany “Tip” Hayes to the Valkyries. As Valkyries owner Joe Lacob noted, the team is a “startup” which makes recruiting free agents a bit tougher than it would be otherwise. Even with that, the Valkyries have built their inaugural roster with an international flavor. As the team gets its feet on the ground, stars like Hayes will help provide credibility and give the fans plenty to cheer for.

💰 MONEY MOVES

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest days of the year in the United States. Companies look to put their best foot forward and promote their products in memorable commercials that will be seen by hundreds of millions of people.

The halftime performance is a chance for a great artist to add one more notch to their belt. And for the WNBA, it’s a chance to follow up on their amazing 2024 and build hype for the 2025 season.

McDonald’s recently partnered with Angel Reese for the “Angel Reese Special.” Reese is the first female athlete to have a collaboration with McDonald’s, and the two teamed up for a commercial that featured Lisa Leslie, Aalyah Del Rosario, Breanna Stewart, and little Angel Reese!

Nike also came through with a commercial of their own.

This was their first Super Bowl commercial in 27 years, and they featured Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, and Juju Watkins.

It was a banner day for women’s sports all around.

In the lead-up to the Super Bowl, ESPN aired two outstanding games between South Carolina and Texas, followed by Tennessee and LSU.

During the game, we got to see the present and future of the WNBA appear on the biggest stage in the United States.

As we mentioned in the December 23 edition of the WBB Roundup:

Women’s sports have always delivered when given the opportunity to showcase themselves.

Super Bowl Sunday was more proof that when you invest in and promote the game, great things will happen.

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