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Hair shows are a staple of Black culture. This Arizona competition is in its 4th year

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Hair shows are a staple of Black culture. This Arizona competition is in its 4th year


Over the last 75 years, hair shows have become a staple of Black culture in the U.S. These events celebrate textured hair through the creative, and often sculptural, styling of centuries-old techniques like braiding and barbering.

The biggest hair shows in the country take place in cities with a much larger Black population than Phoenix — like Bronner Bros. in Atlanta, which can bring in around 30,000 people semi-annually.

But as the Black community here grows and newer Arizona residents bring the culture with them, hair shows have started to pop up in town.

The fourth annual Arizona Fantasy Expo Hair Show will return Sunday in Phoenix.

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Show producer Athena Ankrah attended the third annual Fantasy Expo Hair Show in Phoenix last April, and shares what she saw.

About 200 people crowd La Princesa event hall in north Phoenix on a Sunday evening in 2025. Music blasts from speakers on either side of a stage and flows into the dance floor below. There are people of all ages here. Most attendees are dressed in white, to match the all-white ball theme, but there’s no shortage of color atop models’ heads.

Attendees and hair models at the Fantasy Hair Expo in Phoenix on April 27, 2025.

Lauren Jackson, 20, just graduated from a barber school in Phoenix. 

We’re watching a competition between two barbers — who can shave the cleanest tapered fade the fastest — when she tells me her plans for the event she’s competing in: the loc battle. 

“So I made a basketball hoop out of locs,” Jackson said.

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Hair shows give local hair stylists, barbers and braiders the chance to show off their creative talents through showcases and competitions. 

Some stylists had been working on their entries for more than a year leading up to the Fantasy Hair Expo. But that wasn’t the case for Jackson. The event’s organizers promoted the show at Jackson’s barber school shortly before that day.

“I’m like, OK, bet! …  Mind you, this was a week before the hair show,” Jackson said.

Hair shows are a Black American tradition dating back about 75 years. The creative hair styling can be so eccentric, it’s almost performance art. 

Because it’s not just the hair style on display. It’s a message conveyed through clothes, and sometimes choreography. And a chance to delight in hair textures and styles that have historically been a target of discrimination.

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“A lot of us are like really creative and they’re styles that you just can’t do on a daily basis. So the hair show just kind of gives you the platform to just have fun with it, you know, just be really artistic,” Aisha Wesley said.

Wesley is a cosmetologist who organized the event with fellow cosmetologist and friend LaTricia Williams. 

“I definitely think that the hair show is empowering to the community because it’s like, if nobody else accepts us, we accept us, right,” Wesley said. “I’ve had clients before that have had to come back and get their hair redone because their job was like, ‘you can’t wear that.’ You know? the hair show just kind of gives that freedom …” 

“I can wear whatever I wanna wear,” Williams said.

That freedom and ingenuity was on display at the show. 

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Now, seeing 40 inches of dollar bills sewn into the bottom of a pixie haircut would have been enough.

Cherie Nelson prepares a model's hair, including bright blue hair as headphones and a helicopter rotor on top in April 2025.
Cherie Nelson prepares a model’s hair, including bright blue hair as headphones and a helicopter rotor on top in April 2025.

But the same stylist, Cherie Nelson of Majestik Handzz Beauty Demand in Mesa, put together a whole crew of models with ’90s-inspired streetwear and exuberant hair to match. 

Nelson put one model in vivid bubblegum pink afro puffs, and another with huge headphones over her ears — made entirely of braids. 

And for the finale: A young woman crawls on stage, covered in wigs. She’s wearing crimped wigs from head to toe. Underneath, the leather catsuit, knee-high boots and afro wreath around her face gives her a sort of Janet Jackson lioness look. 

She stalks downstage, rises to her feet and pulls the lion’s mane onto her shoulders to reveal bantu knots: sleek sectioned hair twisted into knots, a protective style dating back to Zulu women in South Africa. 

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The crowd is loving it.

“She went from hoodie, to a lion’s mane, to a jacket, to Catwoman – how do you do that?” the host said.

Finally, it’s time for Lauren Jackson’s event — the loc battle.

It’s all about who can craft the most creative and colorful style out of locs and accessories, with extra points for technique and details. 

For the uninitiated, locs aren’t always dreadlocks. The term often refers to a more structured twist or coiling of hair rather than the Rastafari-style organic loc-ing of hair.

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Loc specialists — also called locticians — can build their styles ahead of time, but on competition day they only have 30 minutes to attach everything to their model’s head and make any finishing touches. 

“Y’all ready? Get set! Go!” the host exclaimed.

Woman in white two piece outfit poses for the camera
Anna Holly drove for 12 hours from San Francisco to attend the Fantasy Hair Expo in Phoenix on April 27, 2025.

Anna Holly drove from San Francisco the night before to compete with her mom as her hair model. 

“It was about 12 hours. But it wasn’t bad,” Holly said while laughing.

Despite the time constraint, Jackson’s entry is not insignificant. 

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She super-glued, painted and shaped synthetic hair onto a basketball hoop with about a foot tall backboard. 

“So I bought a box of those, the sandwich bags, and I’m like, ‘well, I can use this.’ At Dollar Tree, they also had a hoop already made. So I basically wrapped the whole thing with locs,” Jackson said. “Then I took some orange loc hair and I wrapped that with the rim. And then I took some silver grayish lock hair as well for the, the net to the basketball hoop.”

“It was so hard, I’m not gonna lie. I stayed up like day and night trying to figure it out between school,” Jackson said.

 And it’s functional, too — she brought a teeny tiny basketball to prove it.

“Now, if Steph Curry come out of there and shoot a 3? You won!” the host said.

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Another loctician, Elisha Davis, has built a sea goddess look that’s essentially a huge halo of locs sticking straight up. It’s woven with seashells. The stylist and her model have matching glittery siren makeup. The design is minimal enough that you can really see the details. 

“She sells seashells by the seashore. … Aphrodite ain’t playin’!” the host said.

And Holly is installing a replica of a famous landmark on her mother’s head. 

“Is that traffic on her head, y’all? … It’s the Golden Gate Bridge!” the host said to cheers from the crowd.

Yes, the Golden Gate Bridge, made entirely of hair.

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“I’m like, dang, I didn’t even know that was possible, y’all! And she had cars on the bridge!” Jackson said.

Master loctitian and cosmetologist Jai Davis is this event’s judge. 

“I’m looking for detail, creativity. …  I like integrity more than flash. I like skill more than flash,” Davis said.

It was a tight race. But a winner and runner-up are announced. 

“This one was super, super hard, we had to go all the way down to details. We had to look at edges and fresh retwists because the creativity in this competition was so cold,” Davis said. “So, because we had to go down to detail and crispy edges. … We gon’ give it to the Golden [Gate] Bridge!”

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So Jackson’s basketball hoop didn’t win. 

But despite that, she said, “it was so worth it. If I can go back, I would do it all over again.”

And next time, she’ll be ready. 

“Oh my God, I’m gonna do so much more next year. Oh my goodness, I can not wait for next year. ‘Cause I’m gonna do so much more,” Jackson said.

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Judge orders Arizona couple to prison over Medicaid fraud

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Judge orders Arizona couple to prison over Medicaid fraud


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A Phoenix federal judge on June 1 gave a New River couple multi-year prison sentences for deliberately defrauding Arizona’s Medicaid program of $12 million.

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Thvoughn Lynden Curry and his wife, A’lexis Daneen Curry, who were both 34 as of Feb. 1, according to the federal government, were first arrested in 2023 in connection with massive fraud that bilked Arizona’s Medicaid program out of an estimated $2.5 billion. The schemes disproportionately targeted vulnerable Native Americans trying to get sober from alcohol and drug dependence.

In some cases, patients were plied with drugs and alcohol while they stayed at so-called sober living homes to keep the scheme going. A class action lawsuit filed in 2024 alleges extreme harm and wrongful deaths from the schemes.

The couple received slightly different sentences connected with the same fraud scheme that involved their Mesa-based “1 Family Clinic, LLC” billing Medicaid for services they never provided.

During the June 1 sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow told Thvoughn that because of a prior criminal history, he will be going to prison for 7.3 years, while his wife will be imprisoned for a shorter time of 5.8 years. The couple has six children, including four that they had together, and three of the children are under age five, according to court records and testimony during the sentencing.

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Snow told A’lexis Curry that he wished he could do something for her children, “but I don’t know how.” The crime she committed is just “too serious” and deserves a significant sentence of incarceration, he said.

Snow sentenced the Currys individually. He asked each if they had anything they wanted to say to the court, and both said no. Neither showed any emotion when they were sentenced.

The couple was out of custody and in street clothes during the sentencing, and Snow is allowing them to be at home with their family for 21 days before they must self-surrender and start serving their sentences.

The couple asked that they be incarcerated at a facility near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is in the vicinity of where A’lexis Curry’s mother lives and where their children will be staying.

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Prosecutors say that when A’lexis applied to enroll as an Arizona Medicaid provider, there was a warrant out for Thvoughn’s arrest on felony fraud charges. A’lexis told Medicaid that she would be the sole owner of 1 Family Clinic, but investigators say Thvoughn was an owner, too.

Prosecutors said that between approximately Feb. 1, 2021, and March 31, 2023, the Currys routinely billed Arizona’s Medicaid program for services that were not actually provided. Throughout the course of the scheme, the Currys billed an average of more than 12 hours of service per member per day despite being open just eight hours per day on weekdays, five hours on Saturdays, and closed on Sundays, the government said.

Both were convicted Feb. 20 after a four-day bench trial of one count of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud, three counts of health-care fraud, and eight counts of transactional money laundering.

Snow ordered the duo to pay restitution of $12 million to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, known as AHCCCS, which is the state’s Medicaid program. Medicaid is a government health insurance program primarily for low-income people or those who have disabilities.

The husband and wife must also forfeit several properties to the U.S. government, including the nearly 4,000 square-foot six-bedroom, four-bathroom house where they have been living with their family. The home is valued at nearly $900,000.

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Other items that the couple purchased with AHCCCS money included vacations, a 2021 Range Rover, a 2022 Mercedes LT GLE 43 C4 and a 2019 Lamborghini Urus for more than $300,000, prosecutors said. Federal court records indicate the couple filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2024.

Both the state of Arizona and the federal government have filed charges against multiple defendants in connection with the AHCCCS fraud, which was first disclosed to the public at a multi-agency press conference in 2023.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona has charged 12 defendants in cases related to the fraud, and at least seven, including the Curry couple, have already been sentenced. Thvoughn Curry received the longest sentence of any federal defendant to date, court records show.

Snow told Thvoughn that what he’d done was “quite dishonest and quite devastating.” It was also deliberate and went on for a long time, he said.

Among the federal defendants whose cases are still pending is Farrukh Jarar Ali, a 41-year-old citizen of Pakistan who was indicted in 2025 for wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an alleged $650 million scheme involving at least 41 substance abuse treatment clinics in Arizona, prosecutors say.

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Another federal defendant connected with the Arizona Medicaid schemes is Rita Anagho, a former nurse practitioner who, on May 29, 2025, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health-care fraud and wire fraud. Anagho also faced state charges and, on May 6 in Maricopa County Superior Court, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. Anagho’s nursing license was revoked last year.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has indicted 140 individuals and entities connected to the widespread fraud and 41 individuals and entities have been convicted, the office reported in May.

Reach health-care reporter Stephanie Innes at stephanie.innes@usatodayco.com or follow her on X@stephanieinnes or on Bluesky: @stephanieinnes.bsky.social.





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Deadly hantavirus case in Arizona; plans for new homes at golf course site withdrawn | Nightly Roundup

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Deadly hantavirus case in Arizona; plans for new homes at golf course site withdrawn | Nightly Roundup


1 dead from hantavirus in Arizona county; future for Arizona golf course site unclear after company withdraws housebuilding plan; and more – here’s a look at your top stories on FOX10Phoenix.com for Monday, June 1, 2026.

1. Hantavirus kills resident in Mohave County

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Hantavirus kills Mohave County resident

A person living in Mohave County has died from the hantavirus, according to health officials there. Officials say the death is not related to the outbreak that happened onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.

2. Nancy Guthrie case: Veteran investigator speaks out

3. Plans for new homes at former golf course withdrawn

4. Woman accused of faking terminal cancer in scheme

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5. Arizona attempted murder suspect arrested

A look at your weather for tomorrow 

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NCAA Softball: 7 transfers the Arizona Wildcats should pursue

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NCAA Softball: 7 transfers the Arizona Wildcats should pursue


The softball transfer portal may not open for most undergraduates until June 8, but the Arizona Wildcats already know which positions they need to focus on when the time comes. There are plenty of good options who have announced their intentions to look for a new program. Graduate students and players whose coaches have left are already officially open for business.

None of the Arizona pitchers have announced their intentions to leave, but the Wildcats need pitching depth even if Rylie Holder, Jenae Berry, and Sarah Wright are all still in Tucson when incoming freshman Lilly Hauser arrives. An experienced ace who can miss bats is the biggest need if the Wildcats want to be legitimate Women’s College World Series candidates. The need goes beyond that, though.

While one elite pitcher may get a program to Oklahoma City, even NiJaree Canady couldn’t secure a title for Stanford or Texas Tech on her own. Times have changed. Having a second or third high-quality arm is critical. While one of the pitchers expected to be in Tucson next season may develop into that, a staff of six would be optimal.

It would help if at least one of the additions in the circle pitches from the left. While Hauser is a good hitter from the left side, she pitches from the right. Everyone on the current roster is also a RHP. Some variety should be in Arizona’s plans.

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The Wildcats need both elite talent and depth at catcher. There’s no longer a catcher on the roster since Emma Kavanagh is leaving and the recruiting class lacks a player at that position. They need at least two who can play. The bullpen catching can be handled by Sydney Stewart and Grace Jenkins, both of whom are returning as graduate managers in 2027.

While Arizona officially needs a third baseman to replace Jenna Sniffen, the Wildcats could move one of several players over there next year. That includes rising sophomore Kez Lucas, who played first base as a freshman but primarily patrolled the left side of the infield during her prep career. That would open first base for sophomore Sina Talataina or a transfer.

Arizona could look for help in the middle infield, as well. The options at shortstop are currently Lucas or one of the two incoming freshman infielders. There is only one returning second baseman. The only incoming freshman with second base listed on her recruiting profile is Violet Mitchell.

There will be more options next week, but which seven current portal dwellers fit Arizona’s needs?

While it’s never a good idea to base everything on social media interactions, follows can sometimes indicate interest by one or both sides in transfer relationships. At least one Arizona coach is following each of the players listed below who is already in the portal. Multiple Wildcat coaches are following two of the three on one platform or another.

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LHP Hailey Maestretti (Utah)

Maestretti was part of a solid Utah pitching staff that sent Arizona into a tailspin as it headed into the postseason. The Wildcats never really got out of that tailspin. They went 2-3 after that, beating Marshall and Duke but losing to ASU once and Duke twice. Could she be part of helping avoid a future late-season crash?

Maestretti has been Utah’s leader in ERA and innings pitched the last two seasons. The rising junior made a big jump in her numbers as a sophomore, leading a staff that had a 2.81 ERA.

Maestretti threw 149.1 innings in 2026. She had a 2.53 ERA. That was an improvement from the 3.92 ERA she had in 135.2 IP as a freshman. She cut her home runs in half from 16 allowed in 2025 to just eight in 2026. Her BAA against dropped from .309 to .254. Her WHIP went from 1.64 to 1.30.

Maestretti can’t be called a “strikeout pitcher,” but she had a better K:BB ratio than anyone on Arizona’s staff in 2026. She struck out 82 while walking 46. That was an improvement in both numbers from her 70 Ks and 54 BB in 2025. Her 152 strikeouts against 100 walks in her two years at Utah gives her a 1.52 K:BB ratio.

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The Utes didn’t face the kind of nonconference schedule that Arizona did, but they did face a tougher conference schedule. Part of that is because they faced Arizona, but they also had Kansas and UCF on their league slate. Arizona missed both of those NCAA postseason teams. Utah played every Big 12 team that made the postseason.

Maestretti stayed strong despite that slate of teams. She had a 2.87 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and .266 BAA in league play. She gave up six of her eight home runs against teams in the Big 12. Her overall 1.78 K:BB ratio dropped, but it stayed in the positive at 1.27 in league play.

One advantage of Maestretti is that she still has at least two years of eligibility. If the NCAA goes to a 5-in-5 model, she will have three.

LHP Madison Azua (Texas State)

Former Arizona pitching coach Taryne Mowatt-McKinney has had a lot of success at Mississippi State with mid-major pitching transfers. Her alma mater should try to beat her and the rest of Division I to this highly regarded lefty who can be called a strikeout pitcher.

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The Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year was ranked 25th in the nation in K% with 67.5 percent of her pitches going for strikes.

Azua has 79 starts and 115 appearances under her belt over the past three years. She has amassed a 54-27 pitching record, including 26-13 her junior year. She threw a whopping 244.2 innings while keeping her ERA at a career low 1.95 and striking out 236 batters in 2026. She has an ERA of 2.26 and an xFIP of 2.44 for her career. Her career K:BB ratio is 4.43.

Azua is primarily a groundball pitcher with a 52.1 groundball percentage in 2026. She had a flyball percentage of 30.8, which was the lowest of her career. Her 17.1 line drive rate was better than her freshman year but not as good as her sophomore season. Her home run to fly ball percentage was 11.2, the lowest of her career.

Texas State sat in the top 35 of RPI for much of the season and were an at-large selection to the NCAA postseason. They went to the Gainesville Regional but did not face the host Gators. They were eliminated with a 1-2 record. Both losses were to Georgia Tech, including a hard luck, 2-hitter loss assessed to Azua.

Azua would be a bridge to help lead a younger staff. She will be a senior next year, although NCAA eligibility rules could give her two years to play. She will be in high demand, though.

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Proctor isn’t very highly ranked on the defensive side, but she’s a very good offensive option. She’s also versatile. She is listed as a catcher and outfielder, playing both positions in 2026. She has two years of experience in the Big 12.

While Proctor would need a lot of coaching to get anywhere near Stewart’s defensive metrics, she hit much better than the two catching options listed below. She also made steady offensive improvements from her freshman to her sophomore seasons.

Proctor would be ideal as a designated player and possible backup catcher. While Tele Jennings held down the DP position for most of the latter half of 2026, it would not hurt to have additional power to mix into the competition. That became even more important when Anyssa Wild announced that she was going to transfer out of the program following an injury-shortened sophomore season.

In her two years at Utah, Proctor hit .329 with 23 doubles, three triples, and 20 home runs. That works out to a career slugging percentage of .631. She has a career OPS of 1.053.

As a sophomore, she hit .338 with 13 doubles, two triples, and 14 home runs. She had a slugging percentage of .706 and an OPS of 1.167.

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Proctor became far more patient at the plate her sophomore season. That drastically improved her K:BB ratio. She had 21 strikeouts in 2025 and again in 2026, but her walks shot upwards from just seven as a freshman to 34 as a sophomore.

Her defense would definitely need to be coached up if she’s going to play behind the plate or in the outfield. Her DRS was in the negative at both catcher and right field. Her framing runs saved was also in the negative as a backstop.

Rodriguez is a bit of an enigma. She had a fantastic redshirt sophomore season in 2025 after sitting out her true sophomore season in 2024 with an injury. However, her freshman and redshirt junior years were not as impressive. Could hitting coach Amber Freeman help her get back to her 2025 form? Could Freeman (a former catcher) and pitching coach Christian Conrad help her improve her defensive metrics from good to elite?

Although her average dropped to .238 this year, Rodriguez hit .320 in 2025. She had nine home runs in 2025 and again in 2026. In 2025, she added 11 doubles and two triples for a slugging percentage of .556.

Rodriguez is a bit feast-or-famine. She had 19 walks against 28 strikeouts in 2025. The ratio was worse in 2026, when she walked just seven times while striking out 25 times. It would definitely be a change from the patience of Stewart.

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Rodriguez helped eliminate Arizona from the postseason by going 2-for-7 with three RBI, two home runs, and a walk in three games against the Wildcats at the Durham Regional.

As a defensive catcher, she’s been very successful wiping away runners who try to steal. She had 12 runners try to steal on her in 2026. She caught eight of them. She was not assessed any passed balls this season.

Rodriguez had 4.89 defensive runs saved this season, 2.51 framing runs saved, 1.70 stolen base runs saved, and 1.13 blocking runs saved (avoiding passed balls/wild pitches), according to Synergy. In comparison, Stewart had 8.57 DRS, 5.67 FRS, 0.90 SBRS, and 2.63 BRS.

Like Azua, Rodriguez would be a bridge. While she’s listed as a redshirt senior according to eligibility, she will transfer as a grad student and is already officially in the portal. She can be recruited now.

Arizona has six players set to sign in November. One is C/OF Emma Anderson, who is rated a four-star catcher by Softball America. Getting someone like Rodriguez would not block Anderson. Arizona has lost a highly regarded sophomore catcher each of the past three years. All three sat behind older catchers for at least one of their two years at Arizona.

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Lilly Vallimont (Michigan)

Vallimont is superior to both Rodriguez and Proctor as a defensive catcher. Offensively, she has made steps forward each season, but her junior year would have to be considered her breakout year.

The Michigan native hit a career high .280 this year. Her batting average jumped by almost .030 each season with the Wolverines. As a freshman, she hit just .224. That rose to .253 the next season before improving again this year. It works out to a career average of .252.

Her power numbers took a jump this season, too. She hit 11 home runs over her first two season combined. She matched that two-season number by hitting 11 her junior year. Her slugging percentage jumped from .389 in 2025 to .536 in 2026.

The biggest issue for Vallimont is an unfavorable K:BB ratio. She has 76 career strikeouts against 50 career walks. She struck out 26 times and had 12 BB this year.

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Behind the plate, she comes much closer to Stewart’s numbers than either of the catchers listed above. She had 7.02 defensive runs saved, 5.23 framing runs saved, 1.10 stolen base runs saved, and 0.94 blocking runs saved this season. All except the SBRS were lower than Stewart but exceed the numbers of Rodriguez or Proctor.

Vallimont is transferring as a grad student because she redshirted her true freshman year due to an injury. Like Rodriguez, she is already in the portal and can be contacted by coaches. She has one year to play under current rules.

Karley Shelton (South Carolina)

Shelton seems like an unlikely option for the Wildcats since she plays second base for the Gamecocks, and Arizona seems pretty set at the position with Sereniti Trice. There’s always the option of moving her to the other middle infield spot, though. She definitely has skills the Wildcats could use, including three years of experience in the country’s top conference.

Shelton doesn’t hit a lot of home runs. She had seven last year. Stewart showed that the right place and right coaching can drastically improve power, though. Shelton may be able to improve the home run numbers in a similar fashion. Her ability to use her power and speed to hit doubles may make up for the home runs even if those didn’t increase during her final year.

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She hit 16 doubles, one triple, and seven long balls in 2026. Her .543 slugging percentage, .345 batting average, .946 OPS, and 40 RBI were second on the team among those with qualifying appearances. She led the team with 68 hits.

Over the course of her career, Shelton has a .314 average, .860 OPS, and .472 slugging percentage. She has 39 doubles, two triples, and 12 home runs.

Shelton’s numbers took a huge jump between her freshman and sophomore season. She joined the Gamecocks a year early and took a while to acclimate to the college game. Her numbers have been very consistent over her last two seasons.

The biggest challenge may be getting Shelton to cross the country. Her top schools were all in the SEC when she was being recruited. She moved to the Columbia area from Florida for her final year of high school.

Shelton was a team captain for South Carolina’s in 2026.

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Aumua seems to fill a bigger need for Arizona. She’s a corner infielder with some pop in her bat who comes with at least three years of eligibility.

The fact that she has that much eligibility might also be one of her downsides. She would be one more young infielder in what could be an extremely inexperienced group next season. If she was added to the group, the Wildcats could be looking at an infield of one junior, two sophomores, and a freshman.

Aumua appeared in 35 of Auburn’s 55 games this season. That included 14 starts with 12 at designated player and two in right field. The Wildcats probably wouldn’t be putting her in the outfield, but both first base and DP are spots she could fill.

Aumua hit .296 and had an OPS of .974 as a freshman. She had 16 hits in 54 at-bats. Four of those hits went for two bases and four more left the park, giving her a slugging percentage of .593.

The rising sophomore is from Livermore, Calif. in the East Bay, so getting back out West may be on her agenda.

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