Sports
Olivia Miles’ transfer portal entrance highlights power shift in women’s basketball
The top of the 2025 WNBA Draft experienced a major shakeup when Olivia Miles entered the transfer portal. Miles was projected to be the No. 2 pick in April’s draft and likely fall no lower than third overall, but instead she has elected to extend her college career, just not at Notre Dame.
Even though the era of the pandemic bonus year has essentially ended in college basketball as eligible players had to be on rosters during the 2020-21 season, which was when the current crop of fourth-year seniors was in high school, eligibility decisions are still at play for WNBA prospects. There are still medical redshirts, which is why Miles can play for another year because she missed the 2023-24 season with a torn ACL. Furthermore, juniors who turn 22 during the year of the draft have the option to go pro or remain in school.
Miles’ decision not only represents the emerging power of player agency in the women’s basketball landscape, but it is particularly interesting strictly from a basketball consideration, as she is beloved by WNBA talent evaluators. The former Notre Dame guard was all but guaranteed to be a lottery pick, with general managers calling her the safest pick in the draft beyond UConn’s Paige Bueckers. Her massive improvement as a 3-point shooter (24.6 percent before the injury compared to 40.8 percent after) was the tipping point when combined with her already excellent facilitation as a lead guard.
In theory, Miles’ stock has nowhere to go but down if her shooting doesn’t remain consistent at this level. That indicates that when she gets picked isn’t nearly as important as how much money she can make in the process, where she goes, and how her body feels after her ACL injury.
The WNBA is currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association that could potentially triple individual salaries. Rather than lock herself into a four-year rookie contract totaling about $350,000, Miles could wait to enter the league until 2026 and possibly recoup that figure within the first two seasons. Agents have been advising college players across the country with an additional year of eligibility to stay in school and reap the financial rewards of the next CBA.
If Miles makes her transfer decision within the next week, she could also secure name, image and likeness commitments before the final hearing in the House v. NCAA lawsuit on April 7. This is the last gasp for unregulated “pay-for-play” deals with athletes before they are assessed by an NCAA clearinghouse. Given Miles’ status as a two-time All-American — the only other multi-time All-American to ever enter the portal was LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, who left DePaul — Miles will presumably be raking in cash from collectives.
It’s worth remembering that Miles’ external sponsorships will likely stay with her when she turns professional, supplementing her WNBA salary. However, collectives affiliated with a university will only be interested in her as a collegian; thus, this is her last opportunity to pull in that particular revenue stream.
Most WNBA executives didn’t cite Miles’ health as a concern in the lead-up to the draft, as she has suffered only one significant injury and appeared to be in excellent form during the 2024-25 season. However, she told The Athletic in Birmingham that she is not close to where she wants to be post-injury.
“My physical shape could be better,” Miles said. “This injury, it’s a long, long process. Even after you’re healed, getting the rest of your body to catch up. I would say I’m not even 75 percent of the way there yet.”
Taking the leap from college to the WNBA requires a certain level of confidence not only in a player’s skills, but in their body. If Miles doesn’t feel physically herself, it wouldn’t be the right time to play against grown women in a physical league. That’s a similar calculation that Azzi Fudd had to make. The redshirt junior opted out of the 2025 draft to return to the Huskies despite also being a projected first-round pick. Fudd has barely played one full healthy season at UConn and could stand to get stronger before joining the W.
Miles also has more to accomplish at the collegiate level. She ended her season in the Sweet 16, just as she has every full season at Notre Dame, which was short of what the Irish — who were ranked No. 1 in the country on Feb. 17 — had hoped for. There were always questions about the fit between Miles and another ball-dominant guard in Hannah Hidalgo. Now, Miles can find another team where she is the full-time point guard and with more returning talent. Even if Miles returned, Notre Dame was losing half its rotation (Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld, Liatu King and Liza Karlen) and bringing in one top-100 recruit.
Flau’jae Johnson, a draft-eligible junior, said she wanted to do more winning before leaving LSU, despite already being a national champion.
“Once you taste the national championship, you want more,” Johnson said after losing in the Elite Eight. “And I feel like that national championship I had (as a freshman), yeah, I was a big factor in it, but there were bigger factors in that. I want my own one. Where I lead the team.”
Ta’Niya Latson, who was a 2025 All-American with Miles and Johnson, has experienced enough individual accolades at Florida State. She also entered the portal instead of the WNBA draft, having hit a repeated NCAA Tournament first-weekend ceiling with the Seminoles.
There will always be a draw to playing in the NCAA Tournament, one that the WNBA can’t match, and there are only so many years when players can take part in it. All of the aforementioned athletes have been deprived of postseason experience due to injury. Miles missed two tournaments, Fudd missed one and was ill during another, and Latson was injured during her freshman postseason.
This is a situation JuJu Watkins will have to consider when she returns from her ACL injury. Rather than go pro in 2027, she could stay in college a fifth year as a medical redshirt to get back the March time she lost, depending on what USC has accomplished to that point.
Miles’ decision doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is representative of all the financial, medical and legacy-related questions that female athletes are confronting in a time when they have more agency than ever. The balance of power is shifting, and colleges and WNBA teams are now at the mercy of the players.
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
It might be time to write a folk song about the demise of City Section basketball using the music of Peter, Paul and Mary and the new title, “Where Have All the Players Gone?”
The talent level clearly has hit rock bottom only a year after Alijah Arenas was a McDonald’s All-American at Chatsworth High and Tajh Ariza led Westchester to the City Section Open Division title. Because their parents went to City Section schools, Arenas and Ariza stuck it out. Then Arenas graduated early to join USC and Ariza left for St. John Bosco, then prep school.
Westchester is where Ed Azzam won 15 City titles in 42 seasons until his retirement in 2021. Crenshaw is where Willie West won 16 City titles and eight state titles. Taft is where Derrick Taylor won four City titles and coached future NBA players Jordan Farmar, Larry Drew II and AJ Johnson. Fairfax is where Harvey Kitani coached for 35 years, won four City titles and two state titles and earned most of his nearly 1,000 victories. He was followed by Steve Baik and Reggie Morris Jr., each of whom won City championships before leaving.
None of the City schools once considered among the best in Southern California are even close to resembling their glory days, and they aren’t alone. The City Section has lost most of its talent, and it was truly Hall of Fame talent: Marques Johnson and John Williams at Crenshaw; Gail Goodrich at Sun Valley Poly; Willie Naulls at San Pedro; Dwayne Polee at Manual Arts; Gilbert Arenas at Grant; Trevor Ariza at Westchester; Chris Mills at Fairfax. There were decades of success.
There’s no one person to blame. You can’t even place the downfall solely on the Los Angeles Unified School District, whose high schools compete in the City Section.
But LAUSD has done nothing to reverse the trend and didn’t help matters by opening so many new schools in such rapid fashion that longtime legacy schools lost their luster amid declining student enrollment. Things became even more disruptive by the rise of charter schools and private schools taking away top athletes. Adding to that, the loss of veteran coaches frustrated by bureaucracy issues and rules that force programs to secure permits and pay to use their own gyms in the offseason helped further the exodus.
Westchester is 2-8 this season and an example of where City Section basketball stands. Two top players from last season — Gary Ferguson and Jordan Ballard — are now at St. Bernard. Westchester doesn’t even have a roster posted on MaxPreps. King/Drew won its first City Open Division title in 2024 under coach Lloyd Webster. This season Webster sent his senior son, Josahn, to Rolling Hills Prep to play for Kitani. King/Drew is 4-10.
Charter schools Birmingham, Palisades and Granada Hills have separated themselves in virtually all City Section sports including basketball. They have no enrollment boundaries as long as there’s a seat for a student. Palisades lost so many students after the wildfire last year that transfers have been big additions for its teams this school year. Online courses are being offered to help students enroll and compete in sports at charter schools.
The old powers from the inner city — Crenshaw, Dorsey, Jefferson, Locke and Fremont — experienced big changes in demographics. Many coaches are walk-ons and not teachers. The legacy schools have to compete with charter schools View Park Prep, Triumph, Animo Watts, Animo Robinson, WISH Academy and USC-MAE. When young players are discovered and developed, rarely will they stay when one of the private schools or AAU coaches searching for talent spots them in the offseason.
So what’s left? Not much.
Palisades, Washington Prep and Cleveland look like the three top teams this season. All three added transfers to help buck the downward trend. And yet their records are 3-10, 8-8 and 7-6, respectively, against mostly Southern Section teams.
Maybe this can be a fluke one-year plunge to the bottom and the climb back up can begin, aided by coaches who recognize their job is to teach lessons in basketball, life and college preparation. Parents need a reason to send their kids to a City Section school. It’s up to LAUSD and principals to help change the trajectory by finding coaches with integrity, passion and willingness to embrace the underdog role.
There are plenty in the system doing their best. It’s time to start hearing and answering their pleas for help.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
NFL WEEK 17 SCORES: AFC NORTH, NFC SOUTH UP FOR GRABS AS PLAYOFF PICTURE ALMOST COMPLETE
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.
It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.
Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.
Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.
Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.
Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.
Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.
Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.
Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.
St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.
Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.
Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.
Girls basketball
Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.
Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.
Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).
Commentary: Unhappy with the choices for California governor? Get real
Owners of mobile home park destroyed in the Palisades fire say they’re finally clearing the debris
City Section boys’ basketball has nowhere to go but up after hitting rock bottom
Hundreds march in silence to honour Crans-Montana fire victims
Here’s a partial list of U.S. elected officials opposing Trump’s invasion of Venezuela
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Hundreds march in silence to honour Crans-Montana fire victims
Here’s a partial list of U.S. elected officials opposing Trump’s invasion of Venezuela
Crans Montana organises solemn march for the victims • FRANCE 24 English
Kamala Harris blasts Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro as ‘unlawful and unwise’
US Republicans back Trump on Venezuela amid faint MAGA dissent
-
Entertainment1 week agoHow the Grinch went from a Yuletide bit player to a Christmas A-lister
-
Connecticut1 week agoSnow Accumulation Estimates Increase For CT: Here Are The County-By-County Projections
-
World7 days agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
Indianapolis, IN1 week agoIndianapolis Colts playoffs: Updated elimination scenario, AFC standings, playoff picture for Week 17
-
Southeast1 week agoTwo attorneys vanish during Florida fishing trip as ‘heartbroken’ wife pleads for help finding them
-
Business1 week agoGoogle is at last letting users swap out embarrassing Gmail addresses without losing their data
-
World1 week agoSnoop Dogg, Lainey Wilson, Huntr/x and Andrea Bocelli Deliver Christmas-Themed Halftime Show for Netflix’s NFL Lions-Vikings Telecast
-
World1 week agoBest of 2025: Top five defining moments in the European Parliament