Unrivaled is set to tip off in January, and 48 WNBA players will lace up to compete in the professional 3-on-3 women’s basketball league. That star-studded list includes co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, as well as All-WNBA players like Kelsey Mitchell, Paige Bueckers, Alyssa Thomas, and Jackie Young, among other top performers.
Hailey Van Lith, 5 other WNBA players will join Unrivaled’s development pool
Van Lith, Azaiah James, Haley Jones, Emily Engstler, Laeticia Amihere, and Makayla Timpson will all be relief players for Unrivaled this season.
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Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
This year, in addition to the 48 rostered players, Unrivaled will also maintain a development pool of players who are ready to drop in to any club on short notice, when injuries occur. These players will have access to facilities and training like everyone else, but won’t officially be on one club all year.
On Wednesday evening, the league announced that those players are: Chicago Sky guard Hailey Van Lith, Dallas Wings guards Aziaha James and Haley Jones, Washington Mystics forward Emily Engstler, Golden State Valkyries forward Laeticia Amihere, and Indiana Fever center Makayla Timpson.
All six players are 25 or younger, and all are WNBA bench players. Three (Van Lith, James, and Timpson) are WNBA rookies. Here’s what each produced last season:
- Van Lith, 24, averaged 3.5 points and 1.6 assists in 12.4 minutes for the Sky.
- James, 20, averaged 7.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 17.7 minutes for the Wings.
- Jones, 24, averaged 7.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 21.2 minutes for the Wings.
- Engstler, 25, averaged 3.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 12.8 minutes for the Mystics.
- Amihere, 24, averaged 5.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game for the Valkyries.
- Timpson, 23, averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per game for the Fever.
These six players will all shuffle into various Unrivaled clubs and jump in when clubs are short-handed.
Last year, in its inaugural season, Unrivaled didn’t have a development pool program. So, when injuries mounted, players like Natisha Hiedeman and Naz Hillmon filled in and ultimately played critical roles on their rosters.
But those players didn’t have solidified roster spots, nor the same stability as the rest of the league’s players. That will change in the league’s second season.
Unrivaled also announced its full list of teams
In addition to announcing the league’s full list of development players, Unrivaled unveiled its 8 club rosters. The Breeze and Hive mark brand-new teams, but the remaining 6 teams are running it back with some changes.
- Breeze: Paige Bueckers, Rickea Jackson, Dominique Malonga, Aari McDonald, Kate Martin, Cameron Brink
- Hive: Kelsey Mitchell, Sonia Citron, Ezi Magbegor, Natisha Hiedeman, Saniya Rivers, Monique Billings
- Laces: Jackie Young, Brittney Sykes, Alyssa Thomas, Jordin Canada, Maddy Siegris, Naz Hillmon
- Lunar Owls: Skylar Diggins, Marina Mabrey, Napheesa Collier, Rachel Banham, Rebecca Allen, Aaliyah Edwards
- Mist: Allisha Gray, Breanna Stewart, Alanna Smith, Veronica Burton, Arike Ogunbowale, Li Yueru
- Phantom: Kelsey Plum, Satou Sabally, Aliyah Boston, Dana Evans, Natasha Cloud, Kiki Iriafen
- Rose: Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Azurá Stevens, Sug Sutton, Lexie Hull, Shakira Austin
- Vinyl: Courtney Williams, Rhyne Howard, Dearica Hamby, Erica Wheeler, Rae Burrell, Brittney Griner
The league will tip off on January on TNT Sports.
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