Top NCAA stars headline preseason AP All-America Team

All it takes is a bar and a dream.

Sarah Strong & Lauren Betts headline preseason AP All-America Team

College basketball returns in less than two weeks, and the AP is gearing up for tip-off by dropping the 2025/26 preseason All-American First Team yesterday.

• 2025 NCAA champion UConn Husky Sarah Strong made the cut, joined by Final Four participants Lauren Betts (UCLA) and Madison Booker (Texas).

• Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo and recent South Carolina transfer Ta’Niya Latson rounded out the five-player lineup. (See full results)

Big picture: While the transfer portal produced a few major roster shakeups — including Latson leaving Florida State for the 2024 champs — many of last year’s top programs are picking up right where they left off.

• “There isn’t a day that goes by that one of the coaches and I don’t look at each other and go, ‘Man, there’s just something about her right now,’” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said of Strong.

• Auriemma’s reigning champs had some additional good news this week, with third-ranked 2026 recruit Olivia Vukosa officially committing to UConn.

Bottom line: Continuity could be the difference maker in this season, as known talents and newcomers alike look to prove themselves on the court.

NBA commissioner Silver weighs in on WNBA revenue sharing

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is back in the headlines, speaking out on the WNBA’s increasingly tense CBA negotiations on Tuesday — and pushing for controlled salary increases rather than the revenue sharing model suggested by players.

• “I think [revenue] share isn’t the right way to look at it because there’s so much more revenue in the NBA,” Silver told the Today Show. “I think you should look at absolute numbers in terms of what they are making, they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining and they deserve it.” (Watch full video)

• The WNBPA posted a clip of interview to Instagram Stories, captioning it with “Don’t want to share, @adamsilvernba?”

Big picture: Tuesday’s back-and-forth emphasizes what’s become a wedge issue within the CBA talks, as players argue for a salary cap determined by the total revenue generated from basketball-related activities like ticket sales, media deals, sponsorships, and merchandise — the same model currently used in the NBA.

• The league, however, wants salary cap growth to continue on a fixed scale, raising player salaries while controlling revenue distribution at the stakeholder level.

• “I think we all agree we’re trying to return every dollar we possibly can to the players, but we also want to incentivize investment from owners,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said, addressing the issue earlier this month.

Clock’s ticking: Less than 10 days before the CBA’s October 31st deadline, differences continue to overshadow common ground en route to an unlikely deal.

Women’s Pro Baseball League announces inaugural teams

Women’s professional baseball will soon be a reality, as the WPBL announced its four inaugural markets on Tuesday ahead of the league’s November draft.

• Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will house the WPBL’s founding teams, tapped “because of their fan support, market size, media presence, and rich baseball histories.”

• “Each of these cities are storied sports cities and we can’t wait to connect with the fans who live there and baseball fans across the country,” WBPL co-founder Justine Siegal said in a statement.

Big picture: Originally developed as a six-team venture, the WPBL’s 2026 debut will mark the country’s first pro women’s league since the AAGPBL in the 1940s.

• Each team will feature 15 players, with next month’s draft drawing from the top 100 players coming out of August’s open tryouts.

• The league’s first competitive cycle is set to include a regular season, postseason, and all-star competition held at a neutral venue.

PWHL drops expansion team jerseys ahead of November launch

The 2025/26 PWHL season is fast approaching, as the pro women’s hockey league unveiled the inaugural branding for incoming expansion sides Seattle and Vancouver on Tuesday.

• The new teams will wear jerseys displaying their city names across the front, following suit after the PWHL’s founding franchises debuted without original names or branding.

• Seattle’s colors are “deep slate green and cream with a river blue accent,” per this week’s press release, while Vancouver will rock “Pacific blue, cream, and bronze accents.”

Making strides: “These designs also connect our expansion teams to the league’s foundation while they continue building their own traditions and ties to the community,” said PWHL executive VP of business operations Amy Scheer.

• Seattle and Vancouver are expected to reveal full team identities before the 2025/26 puck drops next month, though their jerseys will remain generic until next season.

• And they’re already flying off the shelves, with PWHL Seattle reporting the most single-day jersey sales in league history yesterday and Vancouver following closely behind.

Get yours: Seattle and Vancouver replica home jerseys are available now via PWHL.com.

LPGA’s International Crown team tournament tees off

The LPGA is hitting the links in teams tonight, as some of the Tour’s top golfers represent their countries at the 2025 International Crown in South Korea.

• The US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, China, and a mixed World Team will battle reigning champions Thailand for a cut of the $2 million purse, with selection based on the four top-ranked players from each nation.

The field: No. 1 seed Team USA suffered an availability blow in recent weeks, after an injury sidelined world No. 2 Nelly Korda.

• No. 28 Yealimi Noh will compete in Korda’s place, with the 24-year-old joining No. 10 Angel Yin, No. 16 Lauren Coughlin, and No. 33 Lilia Vu.

• Led by No. 6 Miyu Yamashita, No. 2 seed Japan could be the team to beat, with the World Team’s fourth-ranked Lydia Ko and fifth-ranked Charley Hull upping the stakes for the No. 7 seed.

Tune in: The International Crown tees off tonight at 10 PM ET, live on Golf Channel.

Unrivaled auctions off memorabilia ahead of second season tip-off

Unrivaled fans are bidding on a piece of history, as the 3×3 league pushes its partnership with memorabilia retailer The Realest ahead January’s second season tip-off.

• First launched in July, Unrivaled doubled down on the offerings this week, stocking game-worn jerseys, balls, and other season-one exclusives as sales — including last month’s top-selling $2,222 Napheesa Collier jersey — continue to mount.

• The auction is a result of a group licensing agreement between Unrivaled and the WNBPA, allowing athletes to benefit from merchandise sales while playing in the upstart league.

Buy now: Fans can browse inventory and place bids at The Realest.

Quote of the day

UConn star Azzi Fudd
on the lessons former Husky Paige Bueckers taught her about leadership.