Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Things have been a bit quiet on the video front as we catch our breaths before the WNBA regular season begins. But fear not, as Ball Up Top hits your podcast and YouTube feeds tomorrow morning. Going forward, you’ll have not one but two pods coming from us on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting May 5th. It’s just a few new things we’re rolling out in Season Three of the No Cap Space experience.

So tap in either for the daily newsletter or for full access to a bunch of other women’s basketball content that you won’t find anywhere else!

Julia Poe’s story this week on Courtney Vandersloot and the new-look Chicago Sky was a fascinating window into how the 37 year old point guard is looking to get back on the floor this year. It was particularly illuminating to hear her thoughts on Angel Reese’s midseason comments that started a ticking time bomb that ultimately led to her trade out of Chicago. Since Vandersloot never formally did an exit interview, I didn’t really take issue with her decision to comment on the matter. It’s been awhile, it’s a newsworthy question and she’s been around the game long enough that she’s entitled to an opinion.

What raised my eyebrow, however, was the following quote and description of Vandersloot’s impact in the roster building process alongside general manager Jeff Pagliocca and head coach Tyler Marsh.

What I want to see fleshed out is just how much impact Vandersloot had in these discussions. Was she there functioning as something of a veteran advisor, helping to bring in players that she thinks can fit with the team? Or is she looking at these players with the intention of competing for a championship to end her career on a high note?

Pagliocca’s offseason moves suggest that they are trying to win now, even going as far as jettisoning potential first round draft picks to stay in contention. It’s not in Sky owner Michael Alter’s DNA, for better or worse, to try and commit to a full rebuild so it’s entirely possible that Vandersloot is not so much a vizier as much as she is someone who can maximize her time in the league with an owner and GM who are in alignment about roster construction. But the way this is all being positioned is one of Vandersloot acting as a key cog in the choice to win-now. That might have been prudent thinking when she was one of the best players in the WNBA. Giving that much apparent weight to a 37 year old in the rotational phase of their career? Color me dubious.

For my money, the truth here is probably in the middle. Pagliocca and Marsh probably came to these choices of their own volition with Vandersloot acting out of a desire to help the franchise rather than herself. The issue is that there’s context to make it hard to extend the benefit of the doubt that this isn’t being done by the organization on behalf of their most loyal soldier, pushing the chips in on a player to get her one more shot at a ring rather than think about the next 4-5 years as a franchise. Given the draft pick hell they found themselves in with Washington, there weren’t many other choices than to try to expedite another rebuild. But if it all comes back to Vandersloot, the way she seems to be fine positioning it publicly, then it’s just another example of Chicago doing, well, Chicago things.

While the loss of elite recruit Oliviyah Edwards certainly hurts, Tennessee isn’t necessarily out of the hunt just yet. In fact, with what appears to be a robust NIL operation and a whole new roster of players, ‘Big Oh’ might decide that Knoxville is home, after all.

There were a million different suppositions made about what Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell would do in the transfer portal. Some thought this new roster would consist of mid-major stars or high-major castoffs, having good heart but not the talent or athleticism to compete with the best of the SEC.

Instead, Caldwell loaded up on a wide variety of players. There are indeed the mid-major stars like Northern Arizona’s Naomi White and Liberty’s Avery Mills. There are a couple high-major castoffs like Stanford’s Harper Peterson, who struggled to get off the bench in Palo Alto but may be the exact type of long sharpshooting wing that this offense could use.

Add in some high level transfers from Auburn’s Harissoum Coulibaly to Texas A&M’s Fatmata Janneh and now Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle and you have a roster that may, on paper at least, be better than the one the Lady Vols just hemorrhaged just a month ago. Who knows what it all means, as turning over your roster is a moot point if your system is still broken. I’m going to guess that Caldwell won’t completely abandon her system but is likely to tweak it to make things a bit more palatable for the players. If there’s a happy medium, then this may have just been the ayahuasca trip and ego death that Tennessee women’s basketball has needed.

Here’s how it breaks down. Happy viewing!

How the Wings' Kyla Oldacre is looking to make most of unexpected WNBA opportunity by Myah Taylor, Dallas Morning News

Dawn Staley, South Carolina only SEC team that didn't lose player to transfer portal by Lulu Kesin, Greenville News

Caitlin Clark is primary ball-handler, but appreciates depth to give 'a little bit of a break' by Chloe Peterson, Indy Star

Healthy Jonquel Jones a ‘full go’ for Liberty as training camp kicks off by Madeline Kenney, New York Post

Angel Reese was on Michelle Obama’s podcast today as well…

So here’s a funny story about Wendy McMahon, the former head of CBS News and one of the biggest brokers in media…

I’m working for KOVR (CBS News Sacramento) and down in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. Since we’re a NorCal station, we were following the 49ers and providing coverage all week in the desert. It was myself (a hybrid news/sports reporter) and my colleague, a full-time sports guy at the station. After a day or two on-site, it became clear that we were understaffed for the event and could tell it was impacting our content. My News Director and I went back and forth over it, in which I texted him something along the lines of “Do your job better, plan better, be better.”

Not my best moment, to be sure. But I still stand on it ‘til this day. Word to Deontay Wilder.

So the next morning, I’m on our CBS platform in front of the Bellagio as Wendy, Norah O’Donnell and a host of C-Suite heavy hitters from New York come through. I introduced myself to a couple and when I talk to Wendy she tells me, “I hear there aren’t some fans of Sacramento here.” While she was referencing my morning show segment in which I recreated Billy Eichner’s famous ‘For A Dollar’ sketch, I thought somehow she had heard about my little scuffle with my boss. To say all the blood left my face and my organs fell out of my ass would be an understatement. Did she know? Was I hopelessly and utterly cooked? I’d later find out that my News Director tried to go to my station General Manager and pull me out of Vegas for the transgression of hurting his big, bald, very important feelings. I still don’t know if Wendy knew that or not, but even just the quick comment was the perfect combination of presence and seriousness that kept me on my toes for the rest of the trip.

Some people just have that aura where, even if they aren’t privy to every conversation, they carry themselves as leaders that know everything happening within their insanely large operation (and run it incredibly well, as she did before leaving CBS, who then decided to commit journalistic seppuku by selling to AI-poisoned failsons and their even more vapid and unqualified underlings) It’s for that reason that I always recommend her newsletter, Pure Mettle. There’s some life lessons, tales of leadership and thoughts on where the media industry is headed to. If you’re someone who likes to “skate to where the puck is going” instead of skating to where it currently is, it’s definitely worth a read and subscription…

And hey, while you’re here…subscribe to the NCS daily newsletter if you haven’t already!