Athletes Unlimited announces star-studded roster for 5th season of women's basketball
Athletes Unlimited has announced a final roster featuring 20 returning players and 20 newcomers for its fifth season of women’s basketball starting Feb. 4 in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Athletes Unlimited announced a final roster Thursday featuring 20 returning players and 20 newcomers for its fifth season of women's basketball starting Feb. 4 in Nashville.
The roster includes Tina Charles, the WNBA's career leader in rebounds and field goals, who played overseas the past decade during the league's offseason.
WNBA veterans like Ariel Atkins, Alysha Clark, three-time Olympian Kia Nurse, Odyssey Sims, Aerial Powers, Kiah Stokes, Brianna Turner, Isabelle Harrison and Bria Hartley also are on tap for this season.
Lexie Brown, chair of the AU Pro Basketball Player executive committee, also will have her father, former Celtics star Dee Brown, on hand. His title is player enhancement specialist. He will be working with Danielle Viglione helping coaches Zak Buncik, Edniesha Curry, Chaz Franklin and Kia Vaughn.
Other players competing include Aneesha Morrow, Nalyssa Smith, Jacy Sheldon, Te-Hina Paopao, Zia Cooke, Deja Kelly, Kaitlyn Chen, Jaylyn Sherrod and Aaliyah Nye.
Recommended for you
Megan Perry, vice president of basketball for Athletes Unlimited, said this roster features players who want to test themselves against the best. AU’s format features 5-on-5 basketball.
“The depth across all 40 spots is exceptional, and it’s going to make this one of the most challenging and compelling seasons we’ve had,” Perry said.
The 2026 season will be played for a second straight year at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville from Feb. 4 to March 1.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.