
WNBA All-Star Basketball Without Borders camp is opportunity for international players to be seen
That led to a scholarship at the school where the Australian guard eventually led the Hokies their first Final Four in 2023. Now the Washington Mystics rookie is an instructor at a Basketball Without Borders camp, which is in its third year, that's connected to the WNBA All-Star Game this weekend.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
29 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Opportunity in Washington helped Mystics rookies Citron and Iriafen become WNBA All-Stars
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen were drafted by a rebuilding Washington team, it was clear they'd have a chance to make a quick impact. It turned out to be a historic one. Citron and Iriafen were both WNBA All-Stars last weekend, becoming the first pair of rookie teammates to achieve that since 1999. Their inclusion was an acknowledgement of how quickly they've established themselves in the league — and the way they've helped improve the Mystics' outlook. 'From the beginning, Slim (guard Brittney Sykes) told me like, 'You're not a rookie. We drafted you for a reason, we drafted Kiki for a reason, so you guys just go out and do what you do,'' Citron said. That's not something rookies — even first-round picks like Citron and Iriafen — can take for granted. The WNBA is a famously tough league to break into. For every immediate rookie star like Paige Bueckers, there's another high pick facing a slower adjustment timeline. Bueckers, Citron and Iriafen were all All-Stars, the first time three rookies made it since 2011. But they're the only rookies averaging over 10 points per game this year. Some of that comes down to opportunity. After finishing 14-26 last year, Washington brought in Jamila Wideman as its general manager and Sydney Johnson as its coach. Then the Mystics took Citron out of Notre Dame with the third pick in the draft and Iriafen out of Southern California with the next pick. Having both become All-Stars was pretty much the best-case scenario. Especially since both had a chance to go to Indiana and spend time with some of the game's biggest stars. 'I think there's another couple of jumps that they're looking to take, and I think they were rubbing elbows with some of those players that they aspire to be like, to outperform,' Johnson said. The 6-foot-3 Iriafen scored 17 points in the game and Citron, a 6-1 guard, added 11. Citron also took part in the 3-point contest — and the winner, Sabrina Ionescu, said she'd give half her winnings to the Washington rookie. Johnson said observing how players like Ionescu go about their business is valuable. 'Sabrina put on a show with the 3-point contest. Sonia knows how good of a shooter she is — Sonia is — and then you look, and there's like a whole other level there with Sabrina,' Johnson said. 'That's respecting Sonia, but that's calling it what it is. Just seeing pro habits, how they approach the game, how competitive they are, how they're on all the time.' Now the challenge for Citron and Iriafen is to maintain their level of production. Citron is averaging 13.8 points per game, second on the team behind Sykes, another Washington All-Star. Iriafen is averaging 12 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds. They won't be sneaking up on anyone after being named All-Stars. In the first game back from the break, Washington lost to Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Citron was held to seven points, but Iriafen contributed 13. 'Not being one-dimensional, and finding different ways to impact the game,' Iriafen said of her challenge the rest of the way. 'Maybe it is scoring, maybe it's being more of a defensive threat. Just not relying on what I did in the first half, and just continuing to get better.' The Mystics (11-12) were in eighth place entering Thursday's action, a half-game ahead of expansion Golden State (10-12) and not far behind Las Vegas (12-11) and Indiana (12-12). The loss to the Sparks was the start of a five-game homestand that could be crucial to Washington's postseason hopes. The Mystics won the 2019 championship but haven't posted a winning record since 2022 and have missed the playoffs the last two years. Whatever the stretch run has in store, Washington can look forward to the future after what the Mystics have seen from their rookie All-Star duo. 'I think it's amazing,' Citron said. 'I think me and Kiki work really hard, and it's just cool that people are seeing that.' ___ AP WNBA:


Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump signs executive order seeking to clarify college athletes' employment status
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order mandating that federal authorities clarify whether college athletes can be considered employees of the schools they play for — attempting to create clearer national standards for the NCAA's name image and likeness program. The move comes amid a dramatic increase in the money flowing into and around college athletics. It also follows key court victories won by current and former athletes angry that they were barred for decades, both from earning income based on their celebrity and from sharing in the billions of revenue they helped generate. Facing a growing number of state laws undercutting its authority, the NCAA in July 2021 cleared the way for athletes to cash in with name, image and likeness deals with brands and sponsors. That came mere days after a 9-0 decision from the Supreme Court that found the NCAA cannot impose caps on education-related benefits schools provide to their athletes because such limits violate antitrust law. Trump's action directs the secretary of labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of collegiate athletes through guidance or rules 'that will maximize the educational benefits and opportunities provided by higher education institutions through athletics.' The NCAA's embrace of NIL deals set the stage for another massive change that took effect July 1: The ability of schools to begin paying millions of dollars to their own athletes, up to $20.5 million per school over the next year. The $2.8 billion House settlement shifts even more power to college athletes, who have also won the ability to transfer from school to school without waiting to play. The NCAA has been lobbying for several years for limited antitrust protection to keep some kind of control over this new landscape — and avoid more crippling lawsuits — but a handful of bills have gone nowhere in Congress. The 1,100 universities that comprise the NCAA have insisted for decades that athletes are students who cannot be considered anything like a school employee. This stance has long been a part of the amateur model at the heart of college athletics, but that model is rapidly being replaced by a more professional structure fed by money that is coming from donors, brands and now the schools themselves. Some coaches have even suggested collective bargaining is a potential solution to the chaos they see. It is a complicated topic: Universities would become responsible for paying wages, benefits, and workers' compensation and schools and conferences have insisted they will fight any such move in court (some already have). While private institutions fall under the National Labor Relations Board, public universities must follow labor laws that vary from state to state and it's worth noting that virtually every state in the South has 'right to work' laws that present challenges for unions. ___ AP college sports:


Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Packers say they can't use their youth as an excuse anymore as they aim for longer postseason run
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Over the last couple of seasons, the Green Bay Packers have produced the two youngest playoff teams of the past four-and-a-half decades. They believe they're now experienced enough to take the next step as they chase the franchise's first Super Bowl berth since the 2010 championship season.