Team France playerWNBA team<\/p>\n
Pauline Astier<\/p>\n
New York Liberty<\/p>\n
Valeriane Ayayi<\/p>\n
Phoenix Mercury<\/p>\n
Marine Johann\u00e8s<\/p>\n
New York Liberty<\/p>\n
Le\u00efla Lacan<\/p>\n
Connecticut Sun<\/p>\n
Carla Leite<\/p>\n
Portland Fire<\/p>\n
Dominique Malonga<\/p>\n
Seattle Storm<\/p>\n
Janella Sala\u00fcn<\/p>\n
Golden State Valkyries<\/p>\n
Gabby Williams<\/p>\n
Golden State Valkyries<\/p>\n
But when Johann\u00e8s was pursuing her WNBA dreams, the French Federation did not share her affinity for American basketball. When she opted to sign with the Liberty, it came with risks. They came to fruition in 2023, when she was left off the EuroBasket team due to WNBA commitments.<\/p>\n
But Johann\u00e8s is used to making things happen. She learned to play basketball by re-creating moves she watched on YouTube. Despite not attending a high-level athletics academy, she became the youngest player on the French national team. Ultimately, the risk was worth it.<\/p>\n
Her decision helped change the way the French Federation operates, opening the door for her countrywomen to join the WNBA. Their arrival has birthed an intriguing new rivalry between France and the U.S., which started in the 2024 Olympics and will continue to unfold this month in Berlin.<\/p>\n
But Johann\u00e8s is not the only reason Les Bleues started flocking to the WNBA. Johann\u00e8s opened the door, but several factors, including increased WNBA salaries and NIL contracts, added opportunities with WNBA expansion and cultural shifts pushed them through it.<\/p>\n
The WNBA is officially experiencing a French takeover.<\/p>\n
Since 1996, Team USA has collected eight straight Olympic gold medals. Which is why, with France hosting the Games in 2024, expecting anything other than a Team USA victory would have been ludicrous. Yet the absurd notion nearly became a reality.<\/p>\n
In the final, Les Bleues held the Americans to 34 percent shooting, including 17 percent from beyond the arc. As the game progressed, it became clear that the Americans weren\u2019t going to pull away. France lost by just 1 point.<\/p>\n
Team USA finally had a challenger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that Team USA is the best in the world,\u201d Johann\u00e8s said. \u201cBut I think it can happen one day \u2014 they can lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here’s what to know about the FIBA World Cup<\/p>\n
Sabreena Merchant<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a possibility that many American fans had never considered. Especially since, other than Johann\u00e8s and Gabby Williams (now with the Golden State Valkyries), many of the French players who nearly took down Team USA weren\u2019t playing in the world\u2019s best league, even though they were clearly among the world\u2019s best players.<\/p>\n
French talent has always stayed on French soil. It\u2019s a reality that recruiters and scouts had to accept, and one that has shifted in only the last few years.<\/p>\n
Rachel Galligan, a global scout for the Minnesota Lynx, has spent the last decade helping international players match with college programs in the U.S. with her business Go Global Recruiting. Since her company\u2019s inception, Galligan has worked with only one French player.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I would go over and watch a EuroBasket competition, if you saw France on the schedule, you knew you would see a lot of really good players, but it was a waste of time to some degree, because they just weren\u2019t coming over,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I\u2019ve got to be at those games.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is an exception to every rule. Adeniyi Amadou, who is beginning his first head coaching job, at New Mexico State, became known as a French basketball recruiting savant. But he had a distinct advantage: Amadou grew up in Paris before moving to the U.S. to play college basketball.<\/p>\n
Before joining New Mexico State, Amadou served as an associate head coach on Tammi Reiss\u2019 staff at Rhode Island, helping the Rams earn an NCAA Tournament bid last season with the team\u2019s first Atlantic 10 tournament victory. Six of the 13 Rams players were from France.<\/p>\n
When Amadou recruited in France, he looked for a specific type of player. The youth basketball system is different from that of the U.S., where top talent competes on elite circuits. France\u2019s elite talent attends sports academies such as INSEP, which prepares athletes for a professional career. It also serves as a pipeline to the French national team. WNBA players Dominique Malonga, Janelle Sala\u00fcn and Leila Lacan all attended INSEP.<\/p>\n
Until recently, players of that caliber were encouraged to sign long-term professional contracts at a young age, which almost ensured their loyalty to the French league. When professional basketball and the money that comes along with it are readily available, going to the U.S. for college becomes a much harder sell \u2013 even for a Frenchman.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy pitch was always that if you want more out of basketball you should come to college,\u201d Amadou said. \u201cIf you want academic opportunities, cultural opportunities, linguistic opportunities, why not use basketball to get them?\u201d<\/p>\n
That was before name, image and likeness. Now, money is at the forefront, and it\u2019s changing everything at the college level.<\/p>\n
Not only does NIL give Amadou an added talking point while recruiting, but it also opens up the landscape for other coaches. South Carolina signed 6-foot-7 Alicia Tournebize midway through the 2025-26 season, and in May UConn signed 5-10 guard Marine Dursu.<\/p>\n
France has always been protective of its young talent, especially when it comes to those in line for the national team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgents saw no profit in sending kids to the United States,\u201d Amadou said. \u201cBut now, with the money, everyone sees a benefit in having these kids go. Suddenly it seems more worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Gabby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2291909671-scaled-e1788402392749.jpg\")
<\/p>\n