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Months after South Dakota defeated Florida Gulf Coast in a WNIT championship game that doubled as a celebration of mid-major basketball, neither the Coyotes nor Eagles land in the preseason mid-major top 10.Some gratitude, right?But its all part of the same story. There is a lot of good basketball played in the mid-major conferences -- enough to produce a WNIT final between teams that deserved to be in the larger tournament.?Ignore these teams at your own peril.1. South Dakota State2015-16 record: 27-7; lost in NCAA tournament second roundSouth Dakota State was about a minute away from the Sweet 16 a season ago. After upsetting Miami in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Jackrabbits led Stanford by four with 86 seconds to play in the round of 32. The win slipped away, but the message was delivered: South Dakota State is a perennial Summit League powerhouse. And now the Jackrabbits -- No. 25 in espnWs preseason top 25 rankings -- return players who were responsible for 86 percent of the minutes in that game against Stanford. The Jackrabbits schedule this season includes trips to Oklahoma and Louisville and a mid-major clash against Green Bay.Name to know: Macy Miller. South Dakota State sticks around year after year because its never built around one player, but Miller is a heck of a cornerstone. Her elegant offensive game would work at any level.2. Western Kentucky2015-16 record: 27-7; lost in WNIT quarterfinalsThe Hilltoppers are here with an assist from the states two heavyweights. Former Louisville coach Michelle Clark-Heard is now the head honcho at Western Kentucky. And Kentucky is the source for impact transfers Jaycee Coe and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers (Goodin-Rogers will be eligible after the fall semester). Another vital addition: homegrown point guard Micah Jones, who was granted a fifth year after she tore her ACL in the second game last season. Western Kentucky will get a chance to turn some heads this season with games against DePaul, Indiana and Louisville (and potentially at least one of Baylor, Ohio State and Syracuse).Name to know: Kendall Noble. She has been a conference freshman of the year, player of the year and twice its defender of the year. Whats left after averaging 18.1 points per game, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists? Maybe All-American.3. Chattanooga2015-16 record: 24-8; lost in NCAA tournament first roundJim Foster started his schedule this season with games against Rutgers, Florida and Indiana, so maybe the Chattanooga coach thinks he has something special (games against Connecticut, Louisville and Notre Dame follow, as well as mid-major peers Green Bay and Florida Gulf Coast). The Lady Mocs return their three leading scorers and just about all the meaningful minutes that didnt go to Alicia Payne. They also welcome back Chelsey Shumpert, an all-conference pick whose 2015-16 season was reduced to three games by injury.Name to know: Jasmine Joyner. Only Bethune-Cookmans Kailyn Williams has more blocks among active Division I players, and Joyner got off to a slow start with 56 blocks as a freshman. She has 258 the past two seasons.4. Penn2015-16 record: 24-5; lost in NCAA tournament first roundPenn battled back and forth with Washington in their first-round game last season, even though the Huskies won in the end. The reigning Ivy League champions return all six players who averaged double-digit minutes in 2015-16. The teams two centerpieces: Michelle Nwokedi and Sydney Stipanovich (19.7 rebounds per game and 5.4 blocks per game between them), and a deep backcourt with plenty of shooters carries its weight. Dont sleep on the opener at Duke.Name to know: Michelle Nwokedi. She was a bit player as a freshman and then transformed into a sophomore who rarely left the court. Her development changed the trajectory of the teams national potential.5. Green Bay2015-16 record: 28-5; lost in NCAA tournament first roundFirst, the bad news: Megan and Kaili Lukan will not be with Green Bay this season. Both sisters graduated after enjoying a successful career on the court; they both embodied the program well. The Phoenix also lost Tesha Buck to transfer. But heres the good news: Allie LeClaire, Mehryn Kraker and Jessica Lindstrom are returning. The trio averaged double-digit scoring last season. And with three redshirt freshman, coach Kevin Borseth is back to his old stockpiling ways.Name to know: Jessica Lindstrom. In a breakout sophomore season, Lindstrom grabbed nearly twice as many rebounds as any teammate, but she still hit 44 3-pointers.6. Saint Louis2015-16 record: 26-8; lost in WNIT third roundThe Atlantic 10 is fertile mid-major ground, but Saint Louis is a less familiar representative in these rankings. These Billikens belong. Led by bona fide star Jackie Kemph, the team returns seven of nine rotation regulars. The Billikens also add Michigan transfer Paige Rakers, a needed 3-point asset, and Akron transfer Kerri McMahan. Unfortunately, while the A-10 offers challenges, Saint Louis didnt do itself favors with its schedule. Marquee home games against Missouri and Washington State probably wont be enough to build any kind of NCAA at-large résumé.Name to know: Jackie Kemph. No returning player in the country averaged more assists per game last season, yet Kemph is also the third-leading returning scorer in the A-10. Shes still just a junior.7. Belmont2015-16 record: 24-9; lost in NCAA tournament first roundThe Bruins return all six players who started double-digit games en route to the NCAA tournament a season ago, which is promising continuity for a group that ranked in the top 30 nationally in overall field goal shooting, 3-point shooting and assist-to-turnover ratio. They also have useful size in 6-foot-3 Sally McCabe, the Ohio Valley Conference defensive player of the year. Belmont isnt going to get an at-large tournament bid, but home games against Green Bay and IUPUI offer notable tests, as do road trips to Louisville and Minnesota.Name to know: Darby Maggard. Ranked No. 74 among incoming freshmen a season ago, sandwiched between Michigan and Ohio State signees, the 5-foot-5 Maggard played up to those credentials as a freshman.8. Gonzaga2015-16 record: 19-14; lost in WNIT second roundA loss against Utah in the WNIT snapped Gonzagas streak of nine consecutive 20-win seasons, a stretch that included four trips to the Sweet 16. Some might see that as a sign of decline, but a healthy Elle Tinkle and a lot of backcourt depth might instead make it an aberration. Eligible transfers Chandler Smith (Nebraska) and Makenlee Williams (Utah State) could help. The Bulldogs play Stanford, Michigan and Florida State in the span of eight days in November.Name to know: Jill Barta. Did the versatile, 6-3 Barta emerge late in the season as the next in a line of standouts, or did she feast on weak competition? Well see, but she was fantastic in the WCC as a redshirt freshman.9. Colorado State2015-16 record: 31-2; lost in NCAA tournament first roundThis is not the team that won 31 games last season. Of the seven players who played meaningful minutes against South Florida in the NCAA tournament, only three remain. The Rams didnt lose everything, though. In addition to Ellen Nystrom, the Mountain West preseason player of the year, the Rams return Elin Gustavsson, Stine Austgulen and Hannah Tvrdy, all of whom played important minutes last season.Name to know: Ellen Nystrom. Shes the reason to believe Colorado State has an encore, whether its through scoring or making others better. Shes a triple-double waiting to happen.10. Bucknell2015-16 record: 25-8; lost in WNIT second roundThe Bison had to rank among the most injury-ravaged teams in the country last season, yet they still won a game in the postseason. So while graduating scorer Jacquie Klotz is a blow, simply staying healthy could alleviate much of that pain. That includes co-captain Megan McGurk, who missed the second half of last season. Early trips to North Carolina and Rutgers are interesting opportunities against wounded traditional powerhouses.Name to know: Claire DeBoer. 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I didnt want to face the truth.In Forward, her memoir set for release on Tuesday, the retired U.S. national team star recounts her career, from the lows of losing her high school championship to the highs of winning the Womens World Cup last year. She also chronicles her high-profile marriage to fellow soccer player Sarah Huffman and the struggles they faced.And she tells of her bouts with vodka and pills, which included Vicodin, Ambien and Adderall.Chapters titles in the book are words she has been labeled: tomboy, captain, lesbian and, yes, addict.That night getting arrested was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Because if I dont get so publicly shamed and publicly humiliated, I dont think I wake up, she said as she prepared for a book tour. I think I was asleep for a lot of years. Asleep to the pleas from my family and friends, and even myself, to get help. So that night I was humiliated enough to wake up.With 184 goals, Wambach is the leading career scorer -- male or female -- in international soccer. She retired in December after 15 years with the U.S. womens national team.Appearing Tuesday on Good Morning America, Wambach said she was never under the influence during a game. Im so glad that you asked, and the answer is a complete no, Wambach responded. This is something that happened obviously after games and during mostly off-periods, like off seasons and what-not.Wambach says she has been sober since the night she was pulled over in Portland, Oregon, after dinner with friends. It was her rock bottom: Her mugshot was everywhere the next morning.This was not what she imagined her legacy to be.Wambach said that night was a culmination of events as her life spiraled out of control. Her marriage was on the rocks; she was wrestling with her retirement and her direction; and she had just taken a new job with ESPN.The network hired Wambach in May 2016 as an analyst and contributor to various shows and platforms.She issued a statement on Facebook after she was released from jail the next morning, taking full responsibility for her actions and apologizing to her friends, family and fans. In the aftermath, car company Mini USA withdrew her from its advertising.She pleaded guilty, agreeing to enter a diversion program for first-time offenders that included treatment.In the book, she never pins down a moment that alcohol and drugs started to become a problem. Like so many who have shared her experience, it developed over time.dddddddddddd Those closest to her tried to reach out, including Huffman, fellow national team player Sydney Leroux and friend Kara Mirarchi.Not only was I hiding this secret from the world for so long, so were the people that I loved -- they loved me so fiercely they wanted to protect me as much as possible, almost from myself. Sarah was definitely one of my saving graces because she was one of the first people in my life who made me aware of the problems that I was having, Wambach said. And this was years ago. This isnt something that just snuck up on me when I retired from soccer. This is something Ive been dealing with for years now.Wambach capped her illustrious career with the sports most prestigious championship when the United States defeated Japan 5-2 in Canada last summer for the Womens World Cup. It was the third World Cup title for the U.S. women and first since 1999.The FIFA World Player of the Year in 2012, Wambach appeared in four World Cups with the national team. She also has a pair of Olympic gold medals from the 2004 Games in Athens and the 2012 Games in London. She did not compete in the Beijing Games because of a broken leg.Wambach announced her retirement in October and played her last match with the team in December, a 1-0 victory tour loss to China in New Orleans. She said she looks back at pictures from that game and her eyes seem hollow.Wambach became more active tackling social and political issues in the later years of her career and has been outspoken about gender equality in particular. She led a group of players in protesting FIFAs decision to play the 2015 World Cup on artificial turf, which is considered by many to be inferior to grass.In retirement, she has campaigned for Hillary Clinton for president. She also has a weekly podcast and other work for ESPN. But most importantly, shes working on becoming a whole human being now that shes not numbing herself.Wambach and Huffman, whose kiss after the World Cup victory became one of the most memorable photos of the tournament, could not work out their differences and are divorcing.In her interview with the AP, Wambach was far less guarded than shed been in past conversations. After earlier this year proclaiming I dont get nervous, her emotions were more on the surface as she sincerely admitted her foibles.Its really hard to talk about things when youre ashamed, she said. And Im not ashamed about what happened to me anymore because it led me to where Im at right now. Im proud of where Im at. ' ' '