Week 1 Preview: The Stars Align in Nashville

Sydney Colson, Evina Westbrook, Kierstan Bell, and Isabelle Harrison are the first-week captains who drafted four impressive rosters that have everyone anticipating another exciting season.

Alissa Pili, who was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the Week One draft, makes her league debut after becoming the eighth player in AU Pro Basketball history to be selected first in a weekly draft after Colson (Purple) selected her.

Harrison (Gold) chose forward Maddy Siegrist, who returns for her second season with AU Pro Hoops. Siegrist’s five career double-doubles are tied for 10th in AU history. Her .500 career field-goal percentage and 8.5 rebounds per game average rank eighth in league history.

Westbrook (Orange) took guard Ty Harris, who will make her Athletes Unlimited debut, while Bell (Blue) grabbed AU veteran Odyssey Sims, one of the league’s all-time greatest players.

A look into Week One:

POTENTIAL GAME OF THE WEEK

Team Harrison vs. Team Colson (Wednesday 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT) – With both captains four-year athletes at AU, they drafted strategically in bringing aboard a mix of veterans who have been in the league and newcomers who can produce. One of the guard combinations to watch will be on Team Harrison, with Lexie Brown and Taj Cole back together. The two were an unstoppable tandem in the first season and understand each other’s strengths. Colson brought aboard two players she’s very familiar with: Alysha Clark and Theresa Plaisance. The three have all seen WNBA time in Las Vegas, so there is built-in chemistry.

STEAL OF THE WEEK

Odyssey Sims is another four-year veteran of AU Hoops. The veteran guard not being a captain is a story in itself, as she didn’t choose her team for the first time since the inaugural campaign under the updated captain selection process. It brought an end to her nine consecutive weeks as a team leader. And the fact is, if Sims isn’t a captain – you draft her immediately, something Bell did, grabbing the league’s all-time career leader with 17,472 leaderboard points and 9,012 stat points. Sims also ranks fourth in league history with 960 MVP points while her 7,500 career win points are good for seventh place. She figures to make an immediate impact when her team faces Team Westbrook in the league’s overall season opener on Wednesday.

Read: Odyssey Sims Re-Signs with Los Angeles Sparks

COMING HOME

Alysha Clark may have been born in Denver, but she’s got Tennessee blood running through her veins. A Mount Juliet High School graduate in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, Clark also attended Belmont and Middle Tennessee State, making it an easy decision to join AU Pro Hoops.

“It’s exciting to be able to play at home in front of family and friends and old coaches that knew me before I knew how to make a proper bounce pass, and what a jump shot was,” Clark said. “To be able to come back and play in front of them. To be like, All your hard work paid off,’ and give them that opportunity to see me live as a professional is really exciting.”

SPARKING A RECRUIT

Lexie Brown said being able to recruit players for AU Pro Basketball has been one of the best parts during AU’s offseason, promoting a product she’s helped build, and then seeing her WNBA colleagues commit. Such is the case with Kia Nurse, who played with Brown this past WNBA season in Los Angeles and recently signed with the Chicago Sky.

“I love recruiting players during the W season, to come play in AU – that’s how Kia got here,” Brown said. “I just kept bothering her about it, and she finally was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just give it a try.’ And seeing her here, I mean, it was just in scrimmage games and just seeing her joy. You know, I was with her all summer, and it was frustrating for us as a whole. But seeing her just after one scrimmage, having that huge smile on her face that we didn’t really get to show that much over the summer. Little moments like that are what makes me love AU and being a part of it and continue to build this brand and this organization year after year after year.”

Said Nurse: “This league was the absolute perfect fit for me to come in and be able to add to my offseason. … This is a place where I knew was a family atmosphere, there’s great people, it’s great talent, you got refs, ultimately it’s still a 5-on-5 basketball game, just the scoring is different.”

SISTA SISTA, TAKE 2

For the second consecutive season, Isabelle Harrison will be joined at AU Pro Hoops by her younger sister, Dorie. Last year they were back-to-back picks on different teams in the opening week, and Isabelle was inactive. This year, big sister picked little sister for her Week One roster.

W.G. Ramirez is a 36-year veteran sports reporter in Southern Nevada, serving as a correspondent for Athletes Unlimited. Follow him on X at @WillieGRamirez