AU Pro Basketball: Odyssey Sims keeps adding to her all-time AU resume

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Week 3 is a critical one in Athletes Unlimited.

Performing well in Week 3 not only puts a player in position to be a captain in Week 4, when captaincies are determined by the season-long, rather than weekly, Leaderboard, but, as a Week 4 captain, they’re also likely to increase their chances of being crowned the 2026 AU Champion, as they would have given themselves an opportunity to draft a team that puts them in the best position to rack up Win, Stat and MVP Points—and thereby end the season at the top of the Leaderboard.

Rebekah Gardner (3035 points), Odyssey Sims (2829), Natasha Mack (2773) and Mercedes Russell (2641) currently occupy the four spots at the top of the season-long Leaderboard. Players who are in striking distance of one of those coveted spots are Kierstan Bell (2496), Alysha Clark (2402), Kaitlyn Chen (2319) and Tina Charles (2297).

So, keep a close eye on those players in Week 3. But first, a look back at a Week 2 Glow up.

The Glow shone brightest in Week 2 of AU

While Athletes Unlimited experienced a darkness in Week 2, as the Eclipse dominated, sweeping their three games, a burst of light was unleashed for Week 3, with the Glow emerging as the dominant squad.

An undefeated 3-0, Glow won every game by double digits. Odyssey Sims was in her bucket-getting bag, with the AU stalwart—with more than 25,000 Leaderboard points in her AU career—leading the Glow in scoring every game. She earned the most MVP Points of the week, with an MVP 1 and two MVP 2 finishes. Captain Rebekah Gardner showed off her do-it-all style, complementing her efficient scoring with offensive and defensive playmaking. Natasha Mack was all over the glass, grabbing at least 13 rebounds in every game. (And she almost threw one down!)

Sims, Gardner and Mack thus cruised to captaincies, while Shey Peddy, who suited up for the Eclipse in Week 2, just edged out another member of the Glow, AU rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker, for the fourth captaincy. Peddy earned the second-most MVP Points for the week, helping the Eclipse finish 2-1 with her 3-point shooting and playmaking.

Here are the full results from last week:

Glow 110, Rhythm 89

Eclipse 78, Gold Rush 64

Glow 91, Eclipse 80

Gold Rush 97, Rhythm 86

Eclipse 97, Rhythm 91

Glow 97, Gold Rush 79

Meet the AU teams for Week 3

Here’s how the Week 3 draft went, with each team’s roster listed in the order in which players were selected:

Gold Rush (Odyssey Sims): Kiah Stokes, Kierstan Bell, Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Aneesah Morrow, Lexie Brown, Grace Berger, Aerial Powers, Alaina Coates

Glow (Natasha Mack): Mercedes Russell, Kayana Traylor, Sarah Ashlee Barker, Asia Taylor, Dorie Harrison, Jaylyn Sherrod, Kiara Leslie, Bria Hartley, Rebecca Harris

Rhythm (Rebecca Gardner): Kaitlyn Chen, Emma Cannon, Tina Charles, Aaliyah Nye, Zia Cooke, Brianna Turner, McKenzie Forbes, Deja Kelly, Isabelle Harrison

Eclipse (Shey Peddy): Alysha Clark, Kia Nurse, Teana Muldrow, NaLyssa Smith, Jacy Sheldon, Ariel Atkins, Alissa Pili, JoJo Lacey, Sequoia Holmes

Bigs, once again, were prioritized with the first two picks, something Eric Nemchock emphasized when analyzing last week’s draft. Even though she’s been one of the league’s best bigs herself, Mack grabbed Russell with her first pick, creating a potentially overwhelming froncourt that might grab every rebound for the Glow.

Although, Aneesah Morrow will have something to say about that when the Glow plays the Gold Rush. For the season, she’s earned the most rebound points, suggesting that Sims got a steal by drafting her with her fifth pick. Another fifth pick, with Gardner getting Zia Cooke for Rhythm, also seems like a steal. Cooke has been on fire from 3, shooting 14-for-33 for 42.4 percent, helping her earn the second-most points from made 3s for the season. As Aaliyah Nye is another higher volume 3-point shooter with a solid percentage, Gardner has potentially put together the best shooting team with the Rhythm.

Eclipse could deploy some disruptive defensive lineups, as Peddy and Ariel Atkins earned the most steal points in Week 2. For the season, Teana Muldrow is one of the league leaders in blocks. Jacy Sheldon can also provide an additional defensive playmaking punch, evidenced by the three-steal game she had during Week 2.