January 15, 2026
AU Pro Basketball announces official team rosters and introduces coaches
Brown: 'I think the vibes are going to be great ... the players we've signed are excited and ready to go'
AU Pro Basketball is back for its fifth season (and its second in Nashville), and the player-driven women’s pro league is ready to dive into its most exciting season yet.
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The league’s roster will include a veteran core headed by Tina Charles, Ariel Atkins, Alysha Clark, Kia Nurse, Odyssey Sims, Aerial Powers, Kiah Stokes, Brianna Turner, Isabelle Harrison, Bria Hartley and Lexie Brown. That group will be joined by AU rookies Te-Hina PaoPao, Aneesah Morrow, NaLyssa Smith, Jacy Sheldon, Deja Kelly, Zia Cooke, Kaitlyn Chen, Jaylyn Sherrod and Aaliyah Nye when games kick off in Music City in February.
The roster is “our most competitive ever,” Lexie Brown told The IX Sports on Tuesday. “I think the vibes are going to be great … the players we’ve signed are excited and ready to go.”
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The timing of this year’s season couldn’t be better, Brown added, as Unrivaled is well underway and the 2026 WNBA season remains in flux due to ongoing CBA negotiations. “We’re going to have a lot of eyes on us,” Brown said, a nod toward the uncertainty that surrounds the main job of most of AU Pro Basketball’s athletes.
Those eyes (and the attached humans) will be in for a treat when AU kicks off next month. In addition to signing new faces, the league will also introduce coaches for the first time, a change that was made to help mitigate language confusion. AU Pro Basketball athletes have typically played under the guidance of team captains who change each week, as well as that of facilitators — coach-like individuals who often deferred to the captain’s call.
The swap to proper coaches was made “based on some of the feedback we got specifically last season,” Brown said. “I think every year the league has gotten a little bit more competitive; we’ve been able to bring some more W players in every year, and with that level of elevated competition, you do need to lean on what we previously called facilitators in the past.”
Feedback noted that the title of facilitator caused confusion for players and for fans, and it was unclear how much or how little input a facilitator could or should have. “I’m definitely a super hands-on captain,” Brown said, which made it easy for her to participate as a player and as a leader. “But other players might not be as comfortable in that role,” she continued. “So [the change] is really more of a language thing, and it helps fans to not be so confused.”
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The change will result in “more energized, active coaches on the sidelines,” she said. This coaching roster will include her father, twelve-year NBA veteran and former WNBA coach Dee Brown. Lexie’s dad, who has decades of personal investment in the advancement of women’s basketball under his belt, approached her about joining the league, she explained.
Lexie’s own introduction to professional women’s basketball happened when Dee was coaching the Orlando Magic in 2002, he told The IX Sports. She was still young by the time he retired from the NBA the same year, and she grew up watching greats like Sue Bird and Tamika Catchings on the floor.
Lexie is entering her fifth year with AU Pro Basketball, and Dee also said he feels like he’s been part of the league the entire time. He and Danielle Viglione, who played for the Sacramento Monarchs before going overseas to Israel, Turkey and Italy, will serve as player enhancements coaches this season. Most of the players don’t “really need to develop,” Dee explained, “they just need enhancements to their game, and that’s what we’re here for.” The league’s four teams will be coached by Zak Buncik, Edniesha Curry, Chaz Franklin and Kia Vaughn.
AU Pro Basketball’s new changes will appeal to “anybody who loves WNBA basketball,” Dee also said. “The game of basketball is for everybody. To me, it’s always been colorblind and gender-free.”
AU Pro Basketball will begin the league’s fifth season in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 4.
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