Unrivaled announced the league's coaches for the 2026 season on Thursday, and the list includes plenty of faces that will be familiar to WNBA fans — including that of Noelle Quinn, who was fired by the Seattle Storm in September.
Quinn will coach the Breeze BC, one of the two new expansion teams joining the league this season. The Hive BC (the second new team to be added to the league) will be coached by Chicago Sky assistant coach and Nigerian Women’s National Team head coach, Rena Wakama.
Quinn and Wakama will be joined by Andrew Wade (Laces BC), DJ Sackmann (Lunar Owls BC), Zach O'Brien (Mist BC), Roneeka Hodges (Phantom BC), Nola Henry (Rose BC), and Teresa Weatherspoon (Vinyl BC). As many fans pointed out, Unrivaled's coaching staff includes five Black women, a bold statement to make at the same time as WNBA teams have hired more men into coaching positions.
"We’re thrilled to add such exceptional talent to our head coaching roster in our second season, elevating the strong foundation established by our inaugural coaching staffs across Unrivaled," said the league's GM Clare Duwelius in a press release. "We thank Phil Handy and Adam Harrington for their leadership last season and look forward to building on the momentum for the league this year."
Unrivaled also announced the full player roster
The league also announced that Dominique Malonga, Rebecca Allen, and Aari McDonald are the final three players set to join, and the second season will be the first for each. McDonald was a bit of a surprise addition given the fact that she broke her foot during the regular season.
Malonga's inclusion is not a surprise, as the announcement came about a week after rumors surfaced that indicated she had back out of a three-year contract in Europe. The story was first reported by the Turkish outlet Mert Genç ile Kadın basketbolu, and rumors of Malonga's inclusion in Unrivaled have not been confirmed. BeBasket also noted the Turkish club offered Malonga a salary of €90,000 (approximately $104,000 USD) — a far cry from the average $222,000 that players in Unrivaled received last year.
The trio will be joined by fellow Unrivaled first timers Kelsey Plum, KiKi Iriafen, Paige Bueckers, Saniya Rivers, Sonia Citron, and Kelsey Mitchell. Fan favorite Angel Reese was notably absent from the player roster, and she has not commented on her decision to not return to the league next season.