New WBB pro league debuts with Dawn Staley as an investor, former Gamecocks on rosters
A new professional women’s basketball league is kicking off its inaugural season this week. And two Gamecocks will be featured when the first games are played Friday.
Unrivaled, a league co-founded by women’s hoops stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, will feature six teams in its first season playing games in a 3 vs. 3 format. Former Gamecock superstars Aliyah Boston and Allisha Gray are among the 36 players in the league’s inaugural year.
Boston will play for the Vinyl Basketball Club and Gray for the Lunar Owls Basketball Club.
Athletes competing in Unrivaled will have equity in the league as well as an average salary of around $250,000, per Sports Business Journal. That’s the highest average salary in women’s pro sports history, according to the league.
Unrivaled will play its games in Miami, and its season will run eight weeks from Jan. 17 to March 17. The league has a six-year, $100 million media deal with TNT to broadcast more than 45 prime-time games on TNT and TruTv along with streaming on Max. Unrivaled partners with such brands as Ally Financial, Under Armour, State Farm and Samsung.
Several high-profile athletes and celebrities have invested in Unrivaled — including South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley.
“I believe in people. … Napheesa is somebody that I coached and someone I know, and someone who works hard,” Staley said Wednesday. “She doesn’t take a play off. So you know you can back people who are gonna do whatever they need to do to make it be successful.”
Staley joins the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Phelps, Alex Morgan, JuJu Watkins, Carmelo Anthony and Geno Auriemma, who helped Unrivaled bring its total capital to $35 million after the ending of its Series A investment round.
“I think it’s a great time, because we’re in a great place where women’s basketball is wanted,” Staley said. “We’re in demand. You want more and more and more. I think it’s gonna be a success. I would have supported without monetarily supporting it, just because I’m a fan and enthusiast of women’s basketball.”
Boston and Gray need no introduction to South Carolina fans, or fans of women’s basketball in general.
Gray was a key member of South Carolina’s first national championship team in 2017. She averaged 13.2 points and five rebounds per game for the Gamecocks that year and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. Gray was selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft.
“Allisha Gray, another dynamic scorer,” Lunar Owls coach DJ Sackman said. “Also, great perimeter shooter. So really looking to space the floor with her. And also, obviously, she can attack closeouts and get into the paint.”
She won Rookie of the Year in 2017 with the Dallas Wings and spent six seasons with the franchise. Gray has hit another gear in her career since being traded to the Atlanta Dream before the 2023 season. She was named an all-star in each of the last two seasons and averaged more than 15 points per game the last two years.
Boston was a member of Staley’s “Freshies” recruiting class that helped bring South Carolina its second national title in 2022. After an illustrious four-year career in Columbia that saw her named a four-time All-American, Wooden Award winner and much more, she was taken No. 1 overall in the 2023 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever.
Her pro career has started strong with two all-star nods in two years and, like Gray, Boston was named Rookie of the Year in 2023.
“Aliyah Boston (is) growing,” Vinyl head coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “You have an incredible post presence, physical. She gets the job done. She does all the little things that go unnoticed.”
Boston is joined by Arike Ogunbowale, Rae Burrell, Rhyne Howard, Jordin Canada and Dearica Hambry on the Vinyl Basketball Club. Gray’s teammates on the Lunar Owls club are Collier, Courtney Williams, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Shakira Austin and Cameron Brink.
The Laces, Rose, Mist and Phantom basketball clubs round out the remainder of the six teams in the league. The teams will play on a condensed court and rules will be different from the 3 vs. 3 style of play introduced at the Tokyo Olympic Games, per ESPN.
Games will feature three seven-minute quarters and an untimed fourth quarter highlighted by a “winning score” the teams have to reach for a victory. That target is unique to each game and is set by taking the leading team’s score and adding 11 points. The first team to that mark wins — similar to what’s known as an Elam Ending.
Unrivaled Opening Night
—— Mist Basketball Club vs Lunar Owls Basketball Club ——
Gamecock to watch: Allisha Gray
When: Friday at 7 p.m.
TV: TNT
—— Vinyl Basketball Club vs Rose Basketball Club ——
Gamecock to watch: Aliyah Boston
When: Friday at 8 p.m.
TV: TNT
