With its inaugural season now in the record books, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League is back with a new draft format to grow the league.

The draft for the 2026 season will be in two parts. The first part is the Expansion Draft, in which the two new teams, Cascade and Spark, can draft any unprotected players from the original AUSL teams.

The second part of the draft is the Allocation Draft. Each of the players from other professional leagues, as well as the 2025 Reserve Pool who have opted in, will be eligible for the draft.

In 2025, the AUSL’s inaugural draft featured four former LSU softball players: Carley Hoover, Aliyah Andrews, Sahvanna Jaquish and Ciara Briggs. In addition to these four, former LSU outfielder Ali Newland has opted into the Allocation Draft from the Reserve Pool.

Former infielder Danieca Coffey was given a Golden Ticket to join her future team once her college career ended last season as well. She will also be in the Expansion Draft.

None of the LSU draftees were protected from entering the Expansion Draft, meaning each of them has the potential to be drafted to one of the other five teams for the 2026 season. If they are not drafted, they will remain with their original teams.

Carley Hoover

Hoover had quite the career as a Tiger. She transferred from Stanford to LSU in 2015 and graduated in 2018. During her time at LSU, she was a key factor in the three straight Women’s College World Series appearances as one half of an elite LSU pitching duo.

She was a two-time NCFA All-American at LSU, and after graduating, she moved to Japan to begin her professional softball career. While she played in the Japan Diamond League, she dominated as much there as she did in college. In 2022, she boasted a 1.66 ERA and was named the 2022 Japan Diamond Softball League Player of the Year.

She didn’t showcase much action in the 2025 AUSL season. She made one appearance but was later pulled and put on the injury list.

Aliyah Andrews

While Andrews was drafted for the 2025 inaugural season, she decided to opt into the Allocation Draft for 2026. Andrews played softball at LSU from 2017 to 2021 and made a name for herself in the outfield while she was there.

She played outfield for each season while batting near the top of the order for the Tigers. She quickly became known for her speed, following in her sister’s footsteps at LSU. By the time her junior year came around, she was known as “Air Aliyah” by fans and commentators for her outstanding diving catches.

The biggest stat Andrews boasted while at LSU was her 145 career stolen bases, which is the second most in LSU softball history.

Andrews has been with Athletes Unlimited since she graduated, and she played like a pro in 2025. She put together a .333 batting average and on-base percentage with her speed.

Savannah Jaquish

Jaquish is one of the most well-rounded athletes to come out of the LSU softball program. Most notably, she is currently the only four-time All-American in program history, and, as a utility player by nature, she can do anything on both sides of the ball.

She can hold down the corners of the infield while completing a battery like a primary catcher. Jaquish also slugs with the best, leading the Tigers in career RBI with 262.

In the 2025 AUSL season, she was the only Tiger to be a part of the Talons, the championship-winning team of the inaugural season.

Ciara Briggs

Briggs took over center field for Andrews after graduation and was the first back-to-back Gold Glove recipient in collegiate softball history.

She was also a force to be reckoned with at the top of the lineup, securing her spot in the two-hole for her junior and senior seasons. Briggs finished her career at LSU batting .350.

As an AUSL athlete, she made history in her own way as a part of the first-ever professional softball trade. She was traded from the Blaze to the Volts for McKenzie Clark.

During the inaugural season, she batted .320 in 50 at-bats and boasted a .426 OBP combined between her time as a Blaze and Volt.

Danieca Coffey

Coffey was another LSU athlete who showed up and competed day in and day out. Her permanent spot at the top of the lineup after Andrews graduated showcased her consistency at the plate.

Coffey played second and third base during her time as a Tiger, and she earned her stripes each step of the way.

She made waves each season at LSU, and it all led to the biggest moment of her career: an AUSL Golden Ticket.

During her freshman year, she scratched her way into a starting position at second base. In her sophomore year, she learned to play third base for the first time in her life, and then, in her junior year, she showed the world what she was made of. In her senior year, however, she collided with a catcher trying to catch a pop-up and tore her ACL.

In her redshirt senior year, she led the youngest LSU team in years and showcased herself as well as she possibly could. She said that during the 2025 college softball season, she changed her approach at the plate to become a better player, which led to her being the only LSU Golden Ticket recipient.

As an AUSL athlete, she took off with a bang, being named Player of the Series for the first 2025 series. She finished the season batting just shy of .300 with an OBP just shy of .400.

Ali Newland

Newland was known as LSU softball’s most clutch player during her four years as a Tiger. During her sophomore through senior years, she started every game. She earned herself a near-weekly spot on SportsCenter Top 10 in her senior year with each of her diving catches.

Her first career at-bat as a freshman was a grand slam, and the bat always managed to find her when the moment called for it. In the 2022 Tempe Regional, she put the Tigers back in a ballgame with a three-RBI home run to tie the game — and that was just as a sophomore.

Newland’s game was filled with big moments in the field and at the plate, which led to her competing in the 2025 Home Run Derby X and being an AUSL Reserve Pool Athlete.

In the inaugural AUSL season, she went 7 for 19 at the plate, batting .369, and competed in the AUSL All-Star Cup without being assigned to a team for the regular season.

Only time will tell what teams these former LSU athletes end up on for the 2026 AUSL season. It all takes place on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. CT.