Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball has announced the first 14 athletes who will compete this year as the four-week league returns for its fifth season in February.

2023 AU champion NaLyssa Smith and player executive committee members Isabelle Harrison, Lexie Brown, Theresa Plaisance, and Sydney Colson highlight the nine returning players. Jacy Sheldon and Atlanta Dream rookie Te-Hina Paopao are among the newcomers.

The first 14 players committed include eight WNBA first-round draft picks and a combined 11 WNBA championships and six NCAA titles. AU will name an additional 26 players to round out the rosters for 2026.

Here is the full initial list:

• Alysha Clark
• Isabelle Harrison
• Lexie Brown
• Sydney Colson
• NaLyssa Smith
• Odyssey Sims
• Kia Nurse
• Jaylyn Sherrod
• Theresa Plaisance
• Ariel Atkins
• Aaliyah Nye
• Te-Hina Paopao
• Kiah Stokes
• Jacy Sheldon

“Nashville welcomed us with open arms last season, and we’re thrilled to return to Municipal Auditorium for another year of world-class hoops,” Athletes Unlimited vice president of basketball Megan Perry said in a statement. “With a roster that blends proven leaders and exciting new faces, AU Pro Basketball is where legends rise and new stars are born.”

AU jumped on the offseason scene in 2022, becoming the third property in the Athletes Unlimited model, following AU softball and AU volleyball. The Athletes Unlimited model includes an innovative scoring system played at a single site over four weeks.

Athletes earn (and lose) points for not only team wins and losses, but also individual stats like assists, steals, and fouls committed. Players can also earn MVP points if voted a top performer by the fans. The top four players on the leaderboard serve as captains and draft their own team for the coming week.

Last year, Maddy Siegrist became the fourth AU hoops champion in Music City. The Dallas Wings forward climbed from 12 overall on the leaderboard in 2024 to league champion. She earned 7,052 leaderboard points in the innovative Athletes Unlimited model, 457 points more than runner-up Odyssey Sims. Siegrist holds the all-time points record for AU.

Athletes Unlimited was the first innovative offseason model to provide opportunities for women’s basketball players to earn an offseason income in the United States. Unlike newcomer Unrivaled, AU maintains the same model and court dimensions players are used to in the NCAA and WNBA.

The latest Athletes Unlimited basketball season will launch Feb. 4 at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.