2023 Athletes Unlimited Basketball season

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2023 AU Basketball Season
LeagueAthletes Unlimited Basketball
SportBasketball
DurationFebruary 22 - March 25
TV partner(s)CBS Sports Network, YouTube
Season championsNaLyssa Smith
Seasons
← 2022

The 2023 Season will be the Athletes Unlimited Basketball's second in existence. The season will be played in Dallas, Texas and will run from February 22 to March 25.[1] The format in which teams are redrafted each week allows athletes to accumulate points for both individual and team performances, culminating with one individual winner.[2]

Players[edit]

Name Position College Current Team
CC Andrews Guard Saint Joseph's
Antoinette Bannister Guard/Forward East Carolina Partizani (Albania)
Kristi Bellock Forward Texas A&M H. Petah Tikva (Israel)
Kierstan Bell Forward Florida Gulf Coast Las Vegas Aces
Crystal Bradford Guard Central Michigan
Lexie Brown Guard Duke Los Angeles Sparks
Kirby Burkholder Guard James Madison
Veronica Burton Guard Northwestern Dallas Wings
Jordin Canada Guard UCLA Los Angeles Sparks
DiJonai Carrington Guard/Forward Stanford/Baylor Connecticut Sun
Essence Carson Guard Rutgers
Layshia Clarendon Guard California Los Angeles Sparks
Natasha Cloud Guard Saint Joseph's Washington Mystics
Taj Cole Guard Georgia
Sydney Colson Guard Texas A&M Las Vegas Aces
G'mrice Davis Forward Fordham
Hope Elam Forward Indiana
Allisha Gray Guard South Carolina Atlanta Dream
Rebecca Harris Forward Illinois
Isabelle Harrison Guard Tennessee Los Angeles Sparks
Air Hearn Guard Memphis
Naz Hillmon Forward Michigan Atlanta Dream
Mya Hollingshed Forward Colorado
Lexie Hull Guard Stanford Indiana Fever
Meme Jackson Guard/Forward Tennessee
N'dea Jones Forward Texas A&M
Whitney Knight Guard FGCU
Jessica Kuster Forward Rice
Akela Maize Center North Carolina State
Danielle M. McCray Forward Mississippi
Suriya McGuire Guard Miami
Kelsey Mitchell Guard Ohio State Indiana Fever
Karisma Penn Forward Illinois
Theresa Plaisance Forward LSU Seattle Storm
Lydia Rivers Forward Virginia
Caliya Robinson Forward Georgia
Odyssey Sims Guard Baylor Connecticut Sun
NaLyssa Smith Forward Baylor Indiana Fever
Jenna Staiti Center Georgia
Destinee Walker Guard North Carolina/Notre Dame Niki Lefkadas (Greece)
Jasmine Walker Forward Alabama Seattle Storm
Evina Westbrook Guard UConn Washington Mystics
Courtney Williams Guard South Florida Chicago Sky
Tamera Young Guard/Forward James Madison

[3][4]

Scoring system[edit]

There are multiple ways for players to accumulate points during games to make their way into 1 of the 4 captain spots.[5]

Win Points[edit]

Win points are all about the team performance. They accumulate during both individual quarters and overall game wins. Each quarter is worth +50 points and overall games are worth +150 points. If a quarter is tied, the points roll over to the subsequent quarter.

Game MVPs[edit]

After each game, the players and members of The Unlimited Club will vote for players who they feel had standout performances. These points will be added to the player's individual total. Points will be awarded as follows:

  • MVP 1: +90 points
  • MVP 2: +60 points
  • MVP 3: +30 points

Individual Stats[edit]

The final component of points is individual stats. Players will earn points based on their performance:

  • Assist: +10
  • Steal: +10
  • Block: +10
  • Shooting Foul Drawn: +4
  • Personal Foul Drawn: +4
  • Offensive Foul Drawn: +8
  • Defensive Rebound: +5
  • Offensive Rebound: +10
  • Made FT: +10
  • Made 2: +20
  • Made 3: +30

Players can also lose points for certain actions, such as committing fouls, turning over the ball or missing a shot:

  • Shooting Foul Committed: -8
  • Personal Foul Committed: -8
  • Offensive Foul Committed: -16
  • Other Foul Committed: -8
  • Turnover: -10
  • Missed FT: -10
  • Missed 2: -10
  • Missed 3: -10

Captains[edit]

Each week, based on the point system, the top 4 players will draft their teams. They will draft in a snake style system. Week 1 Captains were chosen based on the final leaderboard standings from the first season. Lexie Brown and Isabelle Harrison would have been captains, but they were replaced by Sims and Williams due to pre-approved absences.

Games[edit]

Week 1[edit]

2023 Athletes Unlimited Season
Week 1
Date Time (ET) Matchup TV Result High points High rebounds High assists High blocks
Thursday, February 23 6:00 p.m. Team Williams vs Team Sims WNBA League Pass
Women's Sport Network
96-93 OT Odyssey Sims (30) NaLyssa Smith (10) Odyssey Sims (12) Lexie Hull (2)
8:30 p.m. Team Cloud vs Team Cole WNBA League Pass
Women's Sport Network
78-72 Canada
Gray
Bradford (21)
Crystal Bradford (14) Natasha Cloud (5) Bradford
Stati
Carson
Walker (1)
Friday, February 24 6:00 p.m. Team Cole vs Team Sims WNBA League Pass
Bally Sports Network
95-120 Kelsey Mitchell (28) NaLyssa Smith (16) Odyssey Sims (14) Lexie Hull (3)
8:30 p.m. Team Williams vs Team Cloud WNBA League Pass
Bally Sports Network
75-67 Natasha Cloud (18) Naz Hillmon (12) Courtney Williams (8) Westbrook
Carson (2)
Sunday, February 26 2:30 p.m. Team Cole vs Team Williams CBS Sports Network 75-89 Isabelle Harrison (27) Crystal Bradford (13) Courtney Williams (8) Allisha Gray (3)
4:30 p.m. Team Sims vs Team Cloud CBS Sports Network 91-66 NaLyssa Smith (24) NaLyssa Smith (12) Odyssey Sims (12) G'mrice Davis (2)

Week 2[edit]

2023 Athletes Unlimited Season
Week 2
Date Time (ET) Matchup TV Result High points High rebounds High assists High blocks
Wednesday, March 1 6:00 p.m. Team Smith vs Team Harrison WNBA League Pass
Women's Sports Network
8:30 p.m. Team Sims vs Team Hillmon WNBA League Pass
Women's Sports Network
Friday, March 3 6:00 p.m. Team Hillmon vs Team Harrison WNBA League Pass
8:30 p.m. Team Smith vs Team Sims WNBA League Pass
Women's Sports Network
Saturday, March 4 6:00 p.m. Team Hillmon vs Team Smith WNBA League Pass
Bally Sports
8:30 p.m. Team Harrison vs Team Sims WNBA League Pass
Bally Sports

Leaderboard[edit]

Below is the leaderboard which tallies the total points earned via the scoring system that each player has accumulated during the games that are played each week. The points are on a running-tally from week to week. The list reflects the final standings - culminating after Week 5.

Rank Player Points Notes
1 NaLyssa Smith 6,811
2 Naz Hillmon 6,660
3 Odyssey Sims 6,383
4 Allisha Gray 5,748
5 Jordin Canada 5,705
6 Isabelle Harrison 5,687
7 Crystal Bradford 5,419
8 Lexie Hull 5,411
9 Kelsey Mitchell 5,386
10 Kierstan Bell 4,950
11 Layshia Clarendon 4,816
12 Theresa Plaisance 4,777
13 Natasha Cloud 4,723
14 Air Hearn 4,479
15 Jasmine Walker 4,234
16 Courtney Williams 4,168
17 Evina Westbrook 4,143
18 Lexie Brown 3,939
19 Danni McCray 3,586
20 Veronica Burton 3,546
21 G'mrice Davis 3,538
22 Lydia Rivers 3,470
23 Tamera Young 3,360
24 CC Andrews 3,290
25 Caliya Robinson 3,270
26 N'dea Jones 3,132
27 Akela Maize 3,126
28 Sydney Colson 3,014
29 Kirby Burkholder 2,986
30 Antoinette Bannister 2,930
31 MeMe Jackson 2,896
32 Kristi Bellock 2,859
33 Jenna Staiti 2,743
34 Taj Cole 2,733
35 Essence Carson 2,684
36 Jessica Kuster 2,643
37 Karisma Penn 2,425
38 Destinee Walker 2,422
39 Hope Elam 2,418
40 Rebecca Harris 2,414
41 Whitney Knight 2,386
42 Mya Hollingshed 1,985
43 Suriya McGuire 1,869
44 DiJonai Carrington 1,300 Missed Entire AU Season - Injury

Team Captain Records[edit]

Team Captains Records
Team Record Number of Weeks as Captain
Team Williams 3-0 1
Team Cole 0-3 1
Team Sims 8-7 5
Team Cloud 1-2 1
Team Smith 7-5 4
Team Harrison 2-4 2
Team Hillmon 8-4 4
Team Mitchell 0-3 1
Team Bell 1-2 1

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ATHLETES UNLIMITED BASKETBALL HEADS TO DALLAS FOR 2023 SEASON". auprosports.com. AU Pro Sports. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  2. ^ "Athletes Unlimited Basketball Tips Off Inaugural Season In Las Vegas". Forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "ATHLETES UNLIMITED BASKETBALL HEADS TO DALLAS FOR 2023 SEASON". auprosports.com. AU Pro Sports. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "BASKETBALL ADDS 8 PLAYERS TO 2023 ROSTER". auprosports.com. AU Pro Sports. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  5. ^ "HOW WE SCORE". auprosports.com. AU Pro Sports. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  6. ^ "WEEK 1 CAPTAINS NAMED FOR BASKETBALL SEASON 2". auprosports.com. AU Sports. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  7. ^ @AUProSports (February 27, 2023). "Week ✌️ captains are locked in 🏀 🟡 Odyssey Sims 🟠 @OMG_itsizzyb 🔵 @NaLyssaSmith 🟣 @nazhillmon #AUHoops" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Ward, Zachary. "AU roundup: Kierstan Bell flashes her talent during Week 3". swishappeal.com. SB Nation. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  9. ^ Graham, Arie. "Week 3 of Athletes Unlimited Basketball was filled with celebration and recognition". thenexthoops.com. The Next. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  10. ^ Graham, Arie. "As second season of Athletes Unlimited Basketball winds down, competition heats up". thenexthoops.com. The Next. Retrieved April 1, 2023.