After completing its first season as a developmental women’s basketball organization, the Upshot League is going through a change in leadership.
Donna Orender’s tenure as commissioner ended on Aug. 31, the Upshot League announced on Monday, Sept. 14. The league’s former vice president of basketball operations — former WNBA All-Star Taj McWilliams-Franklin — has been promoted to deputy commissioner. Zawyer Sports and Entertainment also named former NBA player Dee Brown as vice president of basketball operations.
When reached by USA TODAY Sports, Orender declined to comment. It is unclear whose decision it was to make a change in leadership.
A spokesperson for Zawyer — which owns and operates the league and pays its employees — did not make it clear
if a search for a new commissioner is underway. In a statement, the Upshot League said it “extends its appreciation” to Orender for “helping launch the league and guide it through its inaugural season.”
The statement added McWilliams-Franklin will “help lead the league during this transition period” while Brown will work alongside her as the Upshot “continues to strengthen its basketball operations and prepare for future growth.”
Orender was president of the WNBA from 2005 to 2010 and before that worked for the PGA Tour for 17 years. She co-founded the Upshot League alongside Zawyer CEO Andy Kaufmann, which also owns and operates 15 minor league hockey, soccer and baseball teams throughout the U.S.
The Upshot League launched this past spring with four teams based in Greensboro, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, Savannah, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida. Two more teams will be added in 2027 in Baltimore and Nashville, Tennessee.
For Orender, the goal of the Upshot League was to fill a void in the women’s basketball ecosystem, creating a professional environment where its players are paid and can continue to play and develop their skills without having to go overseas. Orender often described it as an “opportunity league,” but put more simply, the Upshot League aims to be the equivalent of the NBA’s G-League for the WNBA.
And the Upshot League succeeded in sending players to the WNBA, as Michelle Onyiah signed with the Indiana Fever and Christyn Williams the Dallas Wings. Other Upshot players signed with WNBA teams after its season ended while players like Deja Kelly parlayed her success in the Upshot to a contract with a pro team in Greece’s top division.
In an interview with USA TODAY Sports last month, Orender called those signings a “validation” for the league.
“That proved a key premise of who we are, where we are and why we are,” Orender said. “Not every one of our players is going to be a WNBA player − maybe every one of them could be − but if they weren't playing in our league in this timeframe, where would they be? They’d be training with a trainer or coach, and that’s not bad, but you need to be game-ready. You can step off the court from one of our games and walk right into a WNBA game.”
The Upshot League continues to operate independently from the WNBA.
Orender also had a hand in bringing big-name investors into the Upshot League, such as women’s basketball legends Cheryl Miller, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Tamika Catchings. Shaquille O’Neal’s Dunkman brand is the league’s official uniform provider.
The face of the Upshot League is now McWilliams-Franklin, who was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. A former NAIA National Player of the Year, she played 14 years in the WNBA. McWilliams-Franklin helped the Connecticut Sun reach the Finals twice before winning a championship with the Detroit Shock in 2008 and Minnesota Lynx in 2011. The six-time All-Star ranks fourth all-time in offensive rebounds. She also owns a FIBA World Cup gold medal from the 1998 tournament.
McWilliams-Franklin also spent time as an assistant coach in college and the WNBA, then worked for the WNBA as the player relations and development manager and in basketball operations with the NBA.
Brown, who was previously a head coach in the WNBA with the Orlando Miracle and San Antonio Silver Stars, is also the executive director of university relations at Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former WNBA president Donna Orender out as commissioner of Upshot League
