Range Sports Expands in Women’s Basketball, Signing WNBA Trio
Range Sports is branching out into the realm of women’s basketball with the signing of WNBA stars Isabelle “Izzy” Harrison and Dearica Hamby, in addition to 2024 WNBA draftee Elizabeth “Liz” Kitley.
The interest in WNBA athletes by a Hollywood management-production company is a sign of how much the prospects for female athletes have changed in the past decade.
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Harrison at present plays as a power forward for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. She attended the University of Tennessee prior to being drafted in 2015, when she was chosen as the 12th overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury. She has also played for the San Antonio Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces) and made a name for herself on the Dallas Wings. She became a free agent leading into the 2023 season, when she joined the Chicago Sky.
Also in the position of forward, Hamby plays for the Los Angeles Sparks. An alum of Wake Forest University, she holds the record for all-time leading scorer and rebounder for the school’s women’s basketball program. In the 2015 WNBA draft, Hamby was chosen as the sixth overall pick by the San Antonio Stars/Las Vegas Aces. Among her career accomplishments, Hamby has been voted the WNBA’s sixth woman of the year for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020; she also played for the 2020 and 2021 WNBA All-Star teams. She won the 2022 Commissioner’s Cup and 2022 WNBA Championship playing for the Aces.
Following the announcement of her second pregnancy, Hamby was traded to the Sparks in early 2023. Hamby subsequently filed a gender discrimination suit against the Aces and the WNBA, alleging that she faced retaliation for her pregnancy; the lawsuit has prompted broader conversations regarding motherhood and pregnancy protection in the WNBA and beyond.
Elizabeth “Liz” Kitley, is a center for the Virginia Tech Hokies, competing in the NCAA’s Atlantic Coast Conference. She has been selected as ACC Freshman of the Year and was twice named ACC Player of the Year, among several other recognitions of her talent. She will enter the 2024 draft and is expected to be a first-round pick.
“Izzy, Dearica, and Liz are three of the faces of women’s basketball, but they also deserve an equal amount of credit for who they are off the court,” said Rheann Engelke, director of athlete marketing at Range Sports. “Each has made strides of pushing the sport and the footprint of women’s sports forward. It is an honor to welcome them to Range Sports for marketing representation. We will be working to source off-court partnerships, content & media opportunities, business ventures, and community impact efforts for each of them.”
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