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Aaliyah Nye, Sarah Ashlee Barker Selected by WNBA Expansion Teams: Roll Call

Your daily briefing on what's going on with the Alabama Crimson Tide, including full TV listings.
Hunter De Siver|
Sep 9, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Sparks guard Sarah Ashlee Barker (13) against the Phoenix Mercury during a WNBA game at PHX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Sparks guard Sarah Ashlee Barker (13) against the Phoenix Mercury during a WNBA game at PHX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Alabama Crimson Tide

The WNBA Expansion Draft was on Friday, as two new teams selected their rosters. A total of 21 picks were made between the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo and that included two former Alabama standouts.

Aaliyah Nye was taken by the Tempo with the eighth overall pick. Nye spent her rookie season with the Las Vegas Aces, where she played in 44 games (two starts) and averaged 3.8 points (on .345/.314/.824 shooting splits), 1.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.2 blocks in 15.3 minutes per contest. Nye was the 13th overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Nye averaged 15.2 points per game in her final season at Alabama in 2024-25 and shot 45.5 percent from beyond the arc. In the 2023-24 season, she set a program record for three-pointers and she proceeded to break it the following year.

Sarah Ashlee Barker was taken by the Fire with the 17th overall pick. Barker spent her rookie season with the Los Angeles Sparks, where she played in 34 games (eight starts) and averaged 3.1 points (on .337/.295/.708 shooting splits), 1.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.1 blocks in 14.1 minutes per contest. Barker was the ninth overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Barker became a star in the 2023-24 season, where she averaged 16.8 points and 6.3 rebounds a game, good for her first of two consecutive First Team All-SEC selections. In 2024-25, she expanded on her points-per-game total (18.2) while equaling her rebounding mark. Barker was one of the SEC's most improved players two seasons ago, and saved her very best for last, scoring a school-record 45 points in a Round of 32 loss to Maryland.

Countdown to Alabama Football's A-Day Scrimmage

Seven days (Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium)

Roll Call: Saturday, April 4, 2026

  • Alabama men's AND women's wheelchair basketball teams are headed to their respective National Championship games. Both games are on Saturday, as the women's team will face UT-Arlington and the men's team will go head-to-head with Auburn in the Iron Bowl of Wheelchair Basketball!
  • Check out Gabby Gladieux's 9.900 floor routine, which helped the Crimson Tide advance to the NCAA Regional Final.
  • Former Alabama pitcher Ben Hess threw nine strikeouts (tied his career-high) in his first start of the season for the Somerset Patriots (Double-A). Hess earned the win, as he pitched five innings and gave up two runs on three hits. The Portland Sea Dogs' batting average against Hess was .176.
  • Hess isn't the only former Alabama pitcher who shined in Double-A on Friday, as Greg Farone led the Richmond Flying Squirrels with eight strikeouts, three hits allowed and one earned run in 4.2 innings. Farone's eight strikeouts tie the Flying Squirrels record for most Ks on Opening Day. On top of it all, it was Farone's Double-A debut after spending last year in A+ and Single-A.

Friday's Alabama Crimson Tide Results:

  • Track and field at Battle on the Bayou: Hammer Throw – 4th: Catalina Rodriguez | women's | 62.94m (206-6) | PR, No. 6 all-time UA; 200m – 12th: Judith Mokobe | women's | 23.33, PR; 400m Hurdlesz – 5th: Alexander Osayemi | men's | 51.09 | PR, 15th: Mario Paul | men's | 53.47; 1,500m – 4th: Hamdani Benahmed | men's | 3:44.64, 11th: Jackson Harris | men's | 3:46.12, 13th: Kai Martin | men's | 3:46.70
  • Rowing at Rocky Top Invite: 3v8 Heat 1 – Alabama got in 2nd of 3 (6:49.20); 3v4 Heat 1 – Alabama got in 3rd of 4 (7:53.246); 2v4 Heat 2 – Alabama got in 2nd of 4 (7:32.255); 1v4 Heat 2 – Alabama got in 2nd of 5 (7:29.173); 2v8 Heat 2 – Alabama got in 2nd of 5 (6:36.236); V8 Heat 2 – Alabama got in 2nd of 5 (6:28.446)

Saturday's Alabama Crimson Tide Schedule:

  • Track and field at Battle on the Bayou, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, All day
  • Rowing at Rocky Top Invite, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
  • Women's soccer vs. Louisville, 1 p.m., Murfreesboro, Tenn.
  • Men's tennis vs. Jacksonville State, 5:30 p.m., Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Watch, Live Stats

This Date in Alabama Crimson Tide History:

April 4, 1951: John Hannah was born in Canton, Ga.

April 4, l958: Quarterback Bobby Jackson and halfback Duff Morrison caught Paul Bryant's attention at practice as some 1,000 spectators watched the Crimson Tide work out. "I thought Bobby threw the ball well and it looked like Duff wants to be a player," the coach said after practice. However, he also said the Crimson Tide was still a long way from being "much of a team."

April 4, 1994: Reuben Foster was born in Roanoke, Ala.

Alabama Crimson Tide Quote of the Day:

"He’s got vision, he runs with power, he can make you miss, he can catch the ball, he can block. There’s really nothing he can’t do.”

— NFL Network Analyst Daniel Jeremiah on Josh Jacobs

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Hunter De Siver
HUNTER DE SIVER

Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024. He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner. Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023. Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023.

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