After suffering significant damage during Hurricane Milton, Tropicana Field is unlikely to be ready for the Tampa Bay Rays’ opening day in March, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Parts of the dome’s roof were ripped off during the storm, but the Rays haven’t issued public comment since a statement the day after the hurricane hit the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

Surveying the damage has been an issue due to safety concerns according to the Tampa Bay Times report, but there are ‘indications of extensive damage elsewhere at the stadium,’ including team offices that are now open to the elements.

With less than six months until the Rays’ scheduled opener hosting the Colorado Rockies on March 27, the team will likely have to find a temporary home to at least start the 2025 season.

Some possibilities in the region include Steinbrenner Field in Tampa (home of Yankees spring training and the team’s single-A team), the baseball stadium at Disney World in Orlando and Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte – about 80 miles south of Tropicana Field – which hosts Rays spring training and the organization’s single-A club.

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Any of those venues would require upgrades in the coming months in order to host regular season MLB games.

The Major League Baseball Players Association is yet to be consulted on the matter.

After decades of fighting for a new home, the Rays are scheduled to open a new St. Petersburg stadium in 2028 – which certainly complicates the impetus to perform significant repairs on Tropicana Field.

The stadium opened in 1990 as the Florida Suncoast Dome, becoming the ThunderDome from 1993-1996 when the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning played their home games there. It has been the Rays’ home ballpark since the franchise came into existence in 1998.

‘It’s a little bit complicated how the fund works for Tropicana Field, but there is insurance on the property,’ city administrator Rob Gerdes told the Tampa Bay Times. ‘So that’s the first thing we’ll be looking at is the property insurance to help make repairs.’

It had been a long, emotional week at Arkansas in November 1998. The Razorbacks were still staggered from a 28-24 loss to No. 1 Tennessee a few days earlier. Then-coach Houston Nutt was trying to get his team to lock in for a game at Mississippi State that could clinch the SEC West and a rematch with the Vols. 

‘I met with the team 48 hours prior to the game — just myself and them — and I said, ‘Hey guys, let’s be in bed (early),’” Nutt recalled in a recent phone conversation with USA TODAY Sports. “Then my starting kicker goes and gets a DUI that night.”

It was the kind of scenario that has tormented college coaches for generations: A player violates a team rule, breaks a law or lands in headlines for embarrassing reasons. There’s pressure from some media and some administrators to punish the player in the name of upholding standards and sending the message that athletes don’t get preferential treatment. 

And yet the coach knows that holding the player out of games as punishment could not only hurt the team’s chances of winning, but could imperil his own job.

Nutt ended up suspending the kicker, Todd Latourette, who was one of the best in the SEC that year. And without a kicker he had confidence in, Nutt passed on multiple field-goal opportunities, including one from 36 yards. Arkansas lost, 22-21, and Nutt has regretted it for a quarter-century.

“I hurt a good team,” he said. “I even had a couple seniors come to me before the game and say, ‘Hey Coach, if you let him go on the trip we’ll take responsibility and run him for you. We’ll make him throw up Sunday.’

“I’d give anything to have said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ ”

Had the same scenario happened today, though, Nutt may have had a different solution available. As high-profile college athletes increasingly earn money through the so-called booster collectives that sign players to name, image and likeness deals, the idea of fining players for misbehavior has gained traction around the college sports ecosystem.

In other words, just as college football has mimicked the NFL in terms of staffing, training, analytics and even paying players, it’s not surprising that coaches and administrations are warming to financial penalties as discipline rather than the traditional remedies like suspensions or running stadium steps. 

“We think it’s effective,” said one power conference athletics director, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns about how the issue might be weaponized against their school in recruiting. “We think it’s gotten (players’) attention.”

There are, of course, plenty of issues that would necessitate a more serious response than fines. An accusation of sexual assault or domestic abuse, especially when a player has been charged with a crime, such as Georgia receiver Colbie Young, should be handled by policies that remove any temptation for a school to put that player on the field while a case is pending. 

But college coaches have long been mythologized as all-knowing arbiters of right and wrong, entrusted by administrations and fan bases to be father figures, mentors, protectors and — yes — judges and juries on off-field matters. 

That role has not necessarily served coaches well as a profession. When an athlete messes up but continues playing, it feeds into a deep cynicism that the coach’s only interest is winning at the expense of all else. But when a coach suspends a key player and loses, will there be any credit for holding firm to principles? 

Don’t count on it – not in today’s win-now culture.

“When I started, they may give you a five-year window, but that has closed,” Nutt said. “Now it’s two, maybe three at most, and you have to see results.”

There are some early indications that college coaches are, in fact, eager to rid themselves of the disciplinary burden that has long been seen as one of the most important parts of their job. 

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy seemed to be one of those coaches at Big 12 media days while explaining why he didn’t suspend star running back Ollie Gordon for a drunk-driving arrest this summer. 

Though Gundy also engaged in some ham-handed pretzel logic that earned backlash for appearing to minimize drunk driving, he repeatedly referenced the fact that Gordon earns NIL money and that the best decision for Oklahoma State football would be for him to play.

“We can say these guys aren’t employees, but they’re really employees,” Gundy said. “These guys get paid a lot of money, which is fine. But there needs to be a side to what they do that they have to be able to, for lack of a better term, face the music and own up to things.”

Despite failing to articulate it in a perfectly clear way, there’s a reasonable argument that Gundy is right: While Gordon may be a college student who represents a university, he’s a grown man who makes well over six figures to play football. 

Are his bad choices away from the field a reflection on Gundy or Oklahoma State football? Is it reasonable to put his teammates in jeopardy of losing a game? And perhaps more starkly, how does pulling a player impact the collective responsible for paying him? 

When money’s involved, it becomes a more complicated mix of agendas and incentives. 

“I think the majority of coaches would say, ‘This is basically the NFL now,’ ” Nutt said. “And the bottom line is they’re getting paid money, they’re employees, so you’re going to treat them like that. What hits them isn’t so much running a stadium — though I’m sure they still do that — but it’s the pocketbook. I can see where that would be a real motivator.”

This issue has always marked the major divides between college and pro football. Nobody is going to hold Mike McDaniel accountable if a Miami Dolphins player gets arrested. Nobody would accuse John Harbaugh of having a bad locker-room culture in Baltimore if there are off-field embarrassments. 

And yet that has long been the default narrative around certain coaches like Urban Meyer after a spate of ugly incidents at Florida or, now, Kirby Smart at Georgia after a string of player arrests and citations for reckless driving, speeding, racing and assault.

‘In high school, if a person messes up, it’s the parents’ fault. If a person messes up in the NFL, it’s the player’s fault. And in college, it was the coach’s fault and it probably still is because that’s the way people view it,’ said Todd Berry, the former American Football Coaches Association president and longtime college coach. ‘If you wanted behavioral change, the best way to do it was with playing time. Now that’s not really the case because (of the freedom to transfer). So I think you’re going to see some coaches handle that differently because the whole point is how do I get that behavioral change? For some it might be the money.’

Though Georgia will not talk in detail about a fine structure or how that has correlated with the number of arrests, Smart suggested at SEC media days this year that his program was moving toward that path to try and decrease the number of off-field incidents.

“I actually think the best key is the pocket because you look at what the NFL has done, their model is defined,” Smart said. “If you asked any of our players what they would rather have, they want their money. When I say substantial, it’s very substantial in terms of the hits some guys have taken.”

A less-generous reading of that comment — particularly in light of the fact that Georgia’s reckless-driving issues have persisted, even into this season with cornerback Daniel Harris’ arrest in September — would be that Smart welcomes something he can use as a deterrent for misbehavior other than suspensions that might imperil his championship aspirations.

But Smart also made clear that the fines levied by Georgia’s collective are outside his purview. Like an NFL coach, he can mostly focus on the football and leave the moral dilemmas and off-field dramas behind. After all, they’re not paying him $13 million a year to be a nanny. 

“Coach (Frank) Broyles used to always tell me,’ Nutt said, referring to his athletics director and legendary Arkansas coach, ‘ ‘Houston, I really love the way your players graduate, I love the way they are involved in the community. But remember, I pay you to win.’ ‘

Follow USA TODAY columnist Dan Wolken on social media @DanWolken

Aaron Rodgers now owns the New York Jets.

Technically it is still Woody Johnson’s team. Sorry, Ambassador Johnson’s team. That’s in name only, though. If there were any doubts that Rodgers is the one actually running the team, they’ve been dispelled.

A week after firing Robert Saleh, the Jets completed Rodgers’ wish list by trading for Davante Adams on Tuesday. That brings to 10 the number of former Green Bay Packers the Jets have brought in to make their quarterback feel at home.

Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and wide receiver Allen Lazard are still with the Jets. Last year, backup QB Tim Boyle, receivers Randall Cobb and Malik Taylor, safety Adrian Amos, and offensive linemen Jake Hanson, Dennis Kelly and Billy Turner joined Rodgers in making the move from Green Bay to New York.

Heck, there’s probably a David Bakhtiari jersey somewhere in the Jets’ equipment room, too, just in case his knees allow him to play again.

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But in giving Rodgers all the toys he wants, the Jets took away all his excuses.

It won’t be the Jets who are blamed if their season continues to crater. They’re a woeful franchise with an NFL-worst 13-year playoff drought, and the only thing they excel at more than losing is making bad decisions. Zach Wilson, am I right?

Rodgers is a four-time MVP and Super Bowl champion. In 16 years as a starter, he only missed the playoffs twice when he was healthy. The Jets believe him to be the answer to their decades of futility, their modern-day Joe Namath.

And that was before they let Rodgers dictate the roster.

“Salvageable? We’re going to kick — you can add the words in,” Johnson said at the NFL owners meeting in Atlanta. “We’re going to do really well.”

Rodgers had better make sure of it. Because if the Jets can’t win after making every accommodation for their quarterback, if they squander what some thought could be a Super Bowl season, it’s going to be on him.

Not the offensive line, which the Jets rebuilt in the off-season. Not the run game or the defense, both of which have been adequate. Rodgers.

You want to call the shots? You better be ready to answer for them.

Bringing Adams in isn’t a bad move for the Jets, whose anemic offense is a big part of the reason they’ve dropped to third in the AFC East after Monday night’s loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Adams was Rodgers’ favorite target with the Green Bay Packers for a reason, with 73 touchdowns and 8,121 yards receiving. He led the NFL with a career-high 18 touchdowns in 2020, and his reception rate in Green Bay was 66%.

The Las Vegas Raiders are a hot mess, yet Adams was still productive there. He led the league with 14 TDs in 2022, and he had 1,000-yard seasons in each of his first two years. When he let it be known he wanted out of Las Vegas, teams were lining up to woo him.

“I think anybody would be interested,” Johnson said.

The Jets most of all. And because what Rodgers wants the Jets make sure that he gets, Adams was in New York early Tuesday and is expected to play Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Obviously I’m really excited,” Rodgers said during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “I love Tae. He’s a phenomenal player and a dear friend.”

That the Jets want to keep Rodgers happy is understandable. He’s their path back to respectability.

He also holds grudges like few others, and the Jets need him to feel appreciated and listened to for this to work. If that means giving him control of the roster, it’s a small price to pay.

So long as it works.

Whatever excuses Rodgers had are gone. He got what he wanted and now he has to deliver.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Russell Wilson during the 2024 NFL offseason to be their starting quarterback. He hasn’t yet gotten a chance to operate in that role, as a calf injury kept him out of the team’s first five games.

Wilson finally returned to the active roster to back up Justin Fields in Week 6, and soon, the 35-year-old quarterback may get his first chance to start for the Steelers despite Fields leading the team to a 4-2 record in Wilson’s absence.

Here’s what to know about the Steelers’ quarterback battle as a now-healthy Wilson prepares to challenge Justin Fields for the starting job.

Is Russell Wilson starting this week?

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin outlined that Wilson is ‘in consideration’ to start Pittsburgh’s Week 7 game against the New York Jets. During a news conference on Oct. 15, the long-time Steelers coach said Wilson and Fields’ performances in practice would determine which quarterback gets the nod in Week 7.

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‘I got comfortable with his ability to display his health [last week],’ Tomlin said of Wilson, per ESPN. ‘Now it’s about knocking the rust off. He is in consideration this week. We’ll see where that leads us, man. Both guys at the quarterback position are scheduled to work [Wednesday], and we’ll just walk it day by day. All geared toward putting ourselves in best position to win the football game.’

Tomlin explained that would involve Wilson getting first-team reps ‘at some point,’ but he still had to figure out a definite plan at the position.

‘I hadn’t decided who gets the ball first,’ Tomlin explained, referencing Wilson and Fields splitting reps in practice. ‘That sort of minutiae has been undecided.’

The Steelers benching Fields in favor of Wilson would be unprecedented. Fields has helped guide the Steelers to a 4-2 record through six weeks, and no healthy quarterback has failed to start his seventh game after posting that type of record in the Super Bowl era, per NFL researcher Blake Warye.

Still, Tomlin left the door open for Wilson while lauding the job Fields has done since being thrown into the fire in his first season with the Steelers.

‘Justin has been really good, and we’ve been really good at times, but not to be confused with great,’ Tomlin said. ‘Man, this is a competitive league. We’re trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we got a player with talent who hadn’t had an opportunity to play, so we’re going to potentially explore those things.’

‘Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what Justin has done or has not done. Justin has been an asset to us. Last week, for example, his ability to utilize his legs by design and by ad-lib was a significant component of that game. He rushed 50-plus yards and two touchdowns in game and so we’re appreciative of that. We’re appreciative of how he’s taking care of the ball, but we’re just looking at all the people at our disposal the same way that we do at any position.’

That evaluation process could lead the Steelers to start Wilson if they deem him the team’s best option against the Jets. Tomlin also didn’t rule out playing both quarterbacks in Week 7.

‘Certainly, there’s a scenario,’ Tomlin said when asked about playing Fields and Wilson in tandem. ‘There could have been a scenario where that could have occurred last week.’

As such, the Steelers quarterback battle looks wide open heading into Week 7. And even if Fields can stave off competition from Wilson against the Jets, he figures to have the veteran breathing down his neck for the rest of the 2024 NFL season.

Steelers QB depth chart

The Steelers have three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. They are as follows:

Justin Fields
Russell Wilson
Kyle Allen

Wilson entered training camp expected to be Pittsburgh’s starter but dropped to No. 3 in the pecking order after a preseason calf injury. He leapfrogged Allen on the depth chart ahead of Week 6 and hopes to do the same to Fields in the coming weeks.

Alabama doesn’t need Nick Saban back as badly as it needs Jalen Milroe to steal Bryce Young’s playbook and become Crimson Tide’s next great Houdini.
Alabama’s cloak of invincibility slipped off its shoulders more than three years ago, but Bryce Young caulked the cracks.
In Alabama vs. Tennessee, quarterback can become edge position for Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide.

Alabama doesn’t need Nick Saban back as badly as it needs Jalen Milroe to borrow Bryce Young’s playbook and become the Crimson Tide’s next great Houdini.

We’ve got to stop with this false narrative that Alabama lost its superpower the day Saban retired. That’s revisionist history. Alabama surrendered its crimson cloak of invincibility years before the GOAT called it quits in January.

NCAA rules shifted before the 2021 season to allow athletes to transfer freely and begin receiving payments from third-party boosters. Say goodbye to the Alabama Death Star. Say hello to Texas A&M, Tennessee and, gulp, Vanderbilt beating Alabama, and a slew of other teams giving the Tide all it can handle.

Bryce Young’s Houdini act led to Alabama’s last title game appearance

Let me take you back to a sweaty afternoon at The Swamp more than three years ago, when a not-very-good Florida team quarterbacked by Emory Jones pushed Alabama to the brink. The Tide survived in a 31-29 victory after stopping a 2-point conversion a yard shy of the goal line.

How did Alabama manage to reach the national championship game? Because Young provided persistent brilliance. He caulked the cracks. He won the Heisman Trophy. He kept pulling the elephant out of the vise. 

This Alabama squad needs similar sorcery, because like the 2021 Tide, Kalen DeBoer’s first team didn’t come armed with the impenetrable defense of Saban’s glory days.

As for discipline? Pfft, disciplined play left this program years ago. It’s been a flag-fest for the past few years.

Long-term, DeBoer must reignite the defensive ferocity Alabama lost during Saban’s last few seasons, while re-establishing Tuscaloosa as a home for disciplined football.

But, that rebirth won’t happen overnight, and whatever progress might occur in those areas this fall won’t be enough to save this season.

Saban left DeBoer with a thinner-than-usual defense, particularly in the secondary. One by one, Georgia, Vanderbilt and South Carolina exploited that deficiency. Alabama’s pass defense rates in the middle of the SEC, and its pass rush amounts to nothing special, either.

Saban saw this coming, too. Saban, in July, predicted Alabama would miss the playoff. Why? Because of deficiencies in the defense’s back-end.

Saban, though, also handed DeBoer the ultimate leg-up in Milroe, a quarterback talented enough to win his own Heisman.

No. 7 Alabama reaching the playoff will require Milroe to put this team on his broad shoulders and carry it to the finish line, just like Houdini – or Young, excuse me – did three years ago.

Milroe played brilliantly in Alabama’s 41-34 win against Georgia. He displayed pinpoint accuracy, made smart decisions, tore asunder Georgia’s defense and supplied nearly 500 yards of offense.

Once home to great defense, Alabama now ‘starts with their quarterback,’ Jalen Milroe

Against Vanderbilt and South Carolina, Milroe played well, but he stopped well short of any Houdini magic. He totaled four turnovers in those two games and committed a grounding penalty for a safety against the Gamecocks.

Alabama might require the quarterbacking magic Milroe showed against Georgia on Saturday, when the Tide will play at No. 10 Tennessee in a rivalry game steeped in playoff implications.

The loser will be shoved into a corner, unable to afford another defeat, while the winner will be included in any fair-minded playoff projection come Sunday.

In a striking twist, Tennessee now plays tougher defense than Alabama, but the Tide enjoys a slight game advantage because of its edge at the most important position.

Saban built his dynasty as Toughness U., but by the time he retired, Alabama quarterbacks had become the main course, complemented by a side dish of sloppy.

“Starts with their quarterback,” Josh Heupel said of Alabama. The Tennessee coach, while assessing the Tide, couldn’t stop complimenting Milroe.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava might one day live up to his five-star recruiting billing. That day hasn’t arrived. He’s not as dynamic or as polished as Milroe.

Like Young at Alabama, Iamaleava arrived at Tennessee as the nation’s most ballyhooed recruit, with an entire state’s worth of expectations on his shoulders. In Iamaleava’s first season as Tennessee’s starter, he’s not blossoming as quickly as Young did in 2021, his first year as Alabama’s starter.

“He’s talented. You can see it’s there,” DeBoer said of Tennessee’s redshirt freshman quarterback. “He’s still, I think, growing and developing. We just have to make sure we disrupt him.”

Plus, make sure Tennessee’s run game doesn’t carry the day. The Vols look best with the ball in tailback Dylan Sampson’s hands.

Florida wanted to put the onus on Iamaleava last Saturday. The strategy paid off when Iamaleava coughed up two turnovers. Don’t blame the Gators’ defense for their 23-17 overtime loss.

And don’t blame DeBoer for the end of Alabama’s brute dominance. Alabama’s aura of superiority ended years ago, during that paradigm-shifting offseason in 2021.

Alabama still boasts more talent than most, but the advantage isn’t nearly as great as it was in 2020, when the Tide won its last national championship, or throughout most of Saban’s tenure.

With the scales more balanced, a handcuff-escaping quarterback would come in handy. Milroe’s talented enough to take up the Houdini act.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

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MINNESOTA — When a video started circulating on social media last week that showed Lynx forward Napheesa Collier using sign language to talk with a Minnesota fan, the reaction was swift. 

Is there anything this 28-year-old woman can’t do? 

As if the résumé of a two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time All-Star, business co-founder and working mom wasn’t impressive enough, it turns out Collier is also conversational in American Sign Language (ASL), which she took in college to fulfill her foreign language credit. 

On the court, should her team need a timely basket in the paint, a crucial 3-pointer, a steal they can convert to a layup or a thunderous block that sends the bench to its feet, Collier is probably the one doing it — or rather, the one doing all of it. 

In a league dominated by power forwards — think New York’s Breanna Stewart, Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson, Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas — Collier somehow manages to fly under the radar. 

“When I hear people say, ‘She’s a really good player but she’s not quite there,’ I don’t know what people are looking at,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said, praising Collier’s ability to impact every possession at both ends of the floor. 

That anyone would think of Collier as “less than” is especially puzzling when you consider her 2024 season.

Collier averaged 20.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals, all career highs except for points (she scored 21.5 in 2023). If not for Wilson’s otherworldly season, Collier almost certainly would have won league MVP. She finished second behind Wilson, earning 66 of a possible 67 second-place votes. She also won Defensive Player of the Year honors, an award many thought would go to Wilson. 

And in case there was any doubt about Collier deserving that trophy, she put on a defensive showcase in Minnesota’s 18-point comeback win in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals in New York, blocking six shots (tying a career high) and grabbing three steals. She also scored 21 points and snagged eight rebounds in the 95-93 overtime win.

Game 3 is Wednesday at the Target Center with the best-of-five series even at 1-1. The Lynx are looking for their fifth title in franchise history, which would be a WNBA record. The Liberty are looking for their first. Reeve led Minnesota to WNBA championships in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, but no player on the current roster was part of those.

Collier could help Minnesota start another championship run.

From sixth pick to ‘superstar’

Being underappreciated has been a theme of Collier’s career. A 2019 UConn grad, she finished college ranked No. 3 all-time in Husky scoring, No. 4 in rebounding and No. 7 in blocked shots. Yet she dropped all the way to No. 6 in the WNBA draft, falling behind players like Louisville’s Asia Durr, who went No. 2 (and has only played four seasons), and UConn teammate Katie Lou Samuelson, who went No. 4 (and played 18 minutes a game this season for the Indiana Fever). 

Collier hasn’t said directly that she’s fueled by being overlooked. But certainly others haven’t forgotten it. 

“What a superstar, eh? So impressed,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said before Game 2 in New York. “I think there’s a lot of teams out there kicking themselves they didn’t pick her a little earlier.” 

“She’s not too fast, not too slow, but she scores fast. In the big moments, her ability to play 1-on-1, her poise, the spin work, the footwork, the touch, she’s developed that 3-point range,” Brondello continued. “She’s a great defender, obviously … they play in a way that she doesn’t need to have all the touches but she just keeps moving and she’s in great, great shape — that’s her edge, and how she can be so effective.” 

Collier laughed when asked about her stamina, admitting that she naturally gets into shape quickly most seasons (she credited a decade of playing soccer in helping her be able to run nonstop.) Though she was also quick to note that after giving birth to daughter Mila in May of 2022, she was starting from scratch. She returned to the court just 74 days after Mila was born, playing in four games that season. Mila, 2, is a fixture at Lynx practices and games, often sporting a mini No. 24 Collier jersey.

Collier’s play has been particularly impressive to teammate Kayla McBride, who said Collier’s ability to combine “her tenacity with so much grace” puts Collier in rarefied air. 

“She’s taken that next step to really become a superstar at her position, probably the best position in our league … that position in our league is so important for the great teams,” McBride said, adding that Collier understood she’d have to “take it to that next level” and has done so seamlessly. 

‘Trying to complete my game’

Perhaps the most impressive part of Collier’s game has been her evolution from paint player to someone who can float to the perimeter to attack the rim or shoot from distance consistently. Consider that in 2019, her rookie year, Collier hit just 31% of her attempts between 10-16 feet; this season she hit 48.3% of those shots, according to Basketball-Reference.com. In 2019 she shot 35.1% between 16 feet and the 3-point line (22 feet, 1¾ inches). This season she connected on 55.2% of those looks.

Collier said she’s not necessarily trying to be a big guard, even as the WNBA becomes more positionless like the NBA. Her focus is more about “filling holes in my game.” In the offseason she’s trained by her husband Alex Bazzell, a former pro player who works with numerous NBA and WNBA stars including Kyrie Irving and Trae Young. 

“I don’t want to have any weaknesses, so naturally (I’ve been) picking up more guard skills,” Collier said. “Getting better at ball handling, being able to attack from the perimeter, things like that that naturally are more guard-like, I want to get better at those skills. I wasn’t trying to turn into a guard, I’m just trying to complete my game.” 

This coming offseason, Collier plans to balance individual workouts with playing in Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league set to debut in January 2025. Collier co-founded the league with Stewart. 

When she does get in the gym with her husband, Collier wants to work more on “taking 3s on the move”; hers are mostly stationary right now.

As for the ability to draw a defender out to the perimeter, have her teammates clear out and then attack the basket one-on-one — the ultimate guard skill — Collier said she could absolutely do it right now, a claim that made McBride burst out laughing. 

“I mean, I’ll get out of the way,” McBride said. “Sometimes I’m just watching in amazement anyway.”