Meet the Captains Leading AU Pro Basketball in Week 1

Bria Hartley – Gold Rush

Hartley enters her second AU season after placing 10th on the 2025 leaderboard with 4,175 points. She averaged 30.7 minutes per game during the campaign, posting 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game while earning seven Game MVP honors.

Her AU success helped her return to the WNBA after signing with the Connecticut Sun just days before the 2025 season tipped off. She made an impact in her first WNBA appearance since 2022, making 32 starts and appearing in 38 games while posting 8.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. Hartley’s career spans 10 seasons in the WNBA, beginning in 2014 when she was drafted seventh overall by the Seattle Storm.

Internationally, Hartley competed for France during the 2020 FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament and earned a silver medal during the 2019 FIBA EuroBasket Championship. A four-year letter winner at UConn, she finished with 1,996 points, 550 rebounds, and 559 assists across 153 games while leading the Huskies to a pair of NCAA Division I titles.

NaLyssa Smith – Glow

Smith returns to AU Pro Basketball after her 2023 championship run, where she compiled 6,811 leaderboard points to finish as the league champion. She was the first champion across all Athletes Unlimited sports to not wear the Gold jersey at any point during the season and the first champion in any AU sport who was not in the top position of the leaderboard until the end—entering the final day in third place before surging ahead.

Smith was the only player in the league to earn 1,000 or more leaderboard points in all five weeks during her 2023 campaign and set a personal season high with 1,468 points during Week Five. She set AU Pro Basketball single-season records for double-doubles (12), total rebounds (184), and free throws attempted (114). She secured the league title in the final game with a record-setting 50-point performance against Team Sims, becoming the first player in league history to reach that mark while grabbing 13 rebounds for a league-record 12th double-double. She finished the game with a league single-game record 863 leaderboard points.

Smith hoisted her first WNBA trophy in 2025 after averaging 7 points and 5 rebounds across 23 minutes per game in the playoffs, including 5 points and 5 boards in the title-clinching matchup. Her strong postseason followed a productive regular season, in which she posted 7.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game. She now brings championship experience from both AU and the WNBA to the Glow.

Lexie Brown – Rhythm

Brown enters her fifth AU Pro Basketball season and ranks among the league’s all-time leaders in multiple categories. She stands third in AU Pro Basketball history with 17,971 career leaderboard points across 50 games, making her one of only five players to reach that milestone. Her 10,270 win points rank second all-time, while her 6,861 stat points place her fourth in league history. She leads AU Pro Basketball’s all-time list with 94 career steals and ranks second with 105 career quarter wins.

Brown’s offensive arsenal includes accuracy from beyond the arc. She ranks third in league history with 97 career three-pointers and is one of just four players with 200 or more three-point attempts. Last season, Brown finished seventh in the final leaderboard standings with 4,405 points, averaging 16.0 points per game while finishing third with 22 steals. Her best stretch came in Week Four, when she posted a season-high 24 points versus Team Siegrist.

In the WNBA, Brown has appeared in 175 games with 48 starts across eight seasons. She was selected ninth overall by Connecticut in the 2018 WNBA Draft and won a championship with Chicago in 2021.

Alysha Clark – Eclipse

Clark returns to AU Pro Basketball after debuting in the league last season. She finished 15th on the overall leaderboard with 3,548 points and earned a place on the AU Pro Basketball All-Defensive Team. She started all 12 games, averaging 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 46.4 percent from the field. She collected three Game MVP honors, including a standout 21-point, 14-rebound double-double against Team Siegrist on February 20.

Drafted 17th overall by San Antonio in 2010, Clark has appeared in 381 WNBA games across 12 seasons. She is a three-time WNBA champion, capturing titles with the Storm in 2018 and 2020, and with the Aces in 2023. Her resume includes two All-Defensive Team selections and the 2023 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year award.

Before her pro career, Clark starred collegiately at both Belmont and Middle Tennessee. With the Blue Raiders, she established herself as one of the nation’s top scorers, leading NCAA Division I in points per game in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. Now, the Tennessee native and 2020 Middle Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame member returns to the AU stage.