The future of women's basketball is still Unrivaled.
On Friday, Aug. 14, the Miami-based 3x3 league announced it has signed nine women's college basketball stars to NIL deals, continuing a tradition it started in 2024 with a "Future is Unrivaled" summit. The summit invests in collegiate athletes who will help cultivate the future of basketball. Prominent names who recently went through the program include Olivia Miles and Flau’jae Johnson, who later signed contracts to play in Unrivaled in 2027.
The class of 2026 includes returners Sarah Strong of UConn, Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, and Madison Booker of Texas – all in their second year. The trio will be joined by Strong's UConn teammate KK Arnold, South Carolina's Joyce Edwards, LSU's Mikaylah Williams and Jada Williams, Ohio State's Jaloni Cambridge and Michigan's Olivia Olson.
The players in the program have a combined 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, nine Final Four appearances and two national championships. Every athlete also has experience playing 3-on-3 basketball and for Team USA. Hidaglo, Booker and Edwards led USA Basketball to a fifth gold medal at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup. This past summer, Mikaylah Williams was named MVP of the 2026 FIBA 3x3 World Cup, teaming up with Edwards to win gold. Mikaylah Williams also played with Strong, winning gold at the 2022 and 2023 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup.
“We’re proud to continue investing in the future of women’s basketball through our Future is Unrivaled initiative and are thrilled to be working with this talented group of athletes,” Unrivaled's general manager Clare Duwelius said in a statement. “The excitement we've seen from these players to be part of this year's Summit is deeply matched at the league level. We can't wait to welcome all nine athletes to Miami and continue building meaningful relationships as they become part of the Unrivaled ecosystem.”
Programming for all nine athletes on the 2026 NIL roster includes a multi-day event at the league’s headquarters featuring development sessions, content and merchandise shoots, plus other planned activities.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Unrivaled signs 9 premier women's college basketball stars to NIL deals