High fashion flair was on full display during the WNBA ’s orange carpet as incoming rookies expressed their individual personalities while strolling into the next chapter of their lives.
Monday night’s looks spanned the gamut from dressy business pantsuits to full-on Hollywood-style glamour filled with designer labels.
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Mississippi forward Cotie McMahon poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Spain's center Awa Fam Thiam poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Texas Christian forward Marta Suarez, of Spain, poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
WNBA prospects pose on stage before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
“I feel like if you have the confidence you can pull anything off,” LSU guard and rapper Flau’jae Johnson said.
The attention and detail given to the draft night outfits also is good preparation for the “Tunnel Fits” that have become a major part of WNBA marketing with how the players look arriving for games during the season.
Johnson, who does not lack for confidence, walked the carpet in a daring black, sleeveless gown with slits down the side with a black fur wrapped around her waist and holding a bejeweled clutch. She told her stylist to give her a look that could work for both the WNBA draft and the Met Gala.
The five UCLA Bruins on hand Monday night took time before posing with the rest of the players at the draft for a version of their own first look at each other's floor-length dresses — along with a quick selfie.
Awa Fam Thiam, a 6-foot-4 center from Spain, joined TCU forward and fellow Spaniard Marta Suarez decking out in red. Suarez wore a red pantsuit with a large black belt anchoring her middle, while Fam Thiam went with a daring red gown featuring cutouts over her left shoulder and portions of her midriff.
“I saw this moment like introducing myself,” Suarez said. “I'm passionate, I'm fiery and the red looks good on me what can I say?”
Fam Thiam also loves the color red: “I saw this dress yesterday and I felt like this is the dress.”
Suarez carried a purse she painted on one side with her fellow players on hand for this draft signing the other side for what she called her introduction to the league. She also paints her shoes for games, a tradition she intends to take with her into the WNBA.
“I love painting," Suarez said. “That's my love language.”
Ta’Niya Latson brought a bit of the 1960s mixed with old Hollywood to the orange carpet as the South Carolina guard had a little swoop of hair over her forehead to go with a black sequined gown. She wore Christian Louboutin black pumps, elbow-length gloves and a clutch handbag.
Raven Johnson debuted a bob hairdo on the orange carpet — a big change from the long hair the South Carolina guard had in a ponytail at the Final Four only a week ago. Johnson said she partnered with Coach going for a rich and elegant look in a gray and black jacket-style dress with black clutch, diamond necklace and earrings.
As fabulous as the women looked for their draft close-ups, the incoming rookies also sound ready to do their part styling up lots of looks for those “Tunnel Fits” when the season starts in May.
“Tunnel fits are going to be great,” Flau'jae Johnson said. “I’m just very excited. Ever since I did the cover of Teen Vogue, I'm really into fashion.”
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Mississippi forward Cotie McMahon poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Spain's center Awa Fam Thiam poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Texas Christian forward Marta Suarez, of Spain, poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
WNBA prospects pose on stage before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
ATHENS, Georgia (AP) — Fresh from a marathon trip to Pakistan that failed to reach a deal for ending the war with Iran, Vice President JD Vance jetted to this Georgia college town for a campus tour organized by the conservative powerhouse Turning Point USA.
But instead of showcasing the youthful energy that the organization harnessed to return President Donald Trump to the White House less than two years ago, there was a mostly empty arena, awkward questions and unusually sharp criticism.
The event affirmed Trump's difficulty selling the war and how much he’s complicated his own political fortunes by assailing Pope Leo XIV and posting a social media meme that depicted himself as Jesus.
“I did vote for Trump. I am not a Trump supporter anymore,” said Joseph Bercher, a Catholic who said he was glad that Leo has expressed opposition to the war with Iran.
Bercher said the Jesus meme, which the president took down Monday after a rare conservative backlash, was a “red flag” indicating Trump's true character.
“He sees himself as like a demagogue or someone to be worshipped," Bercher said.
C.J. Santini, a recent graduate of Liberty University, an evangelical school in Virginia, said he didn't have an opinion on whether Iran was truly close to manufacturing a nuclear weapon and thus needed to be attacked. But he laughed and shook his head when asked about Trump attacking Leo.
“It’s just stupid. Stupid,” he said, calling it a “distraction” from Trump’s agenda in Iran and at home.
Many of the college-age attendees donned Turning Point attire, Trump hats and red-white-and-blue paraphernalia for the event. Yet they were outnumbered more than 2-to-1 by empty seats in what is not even the largest arena on this sprawling campus that sits about a 90-minute drive from downtown Atlanta.
A Marine veteran who served in Iraq, Vance acknowledged that not all young conservatives are enamored with another U.S. war in the Middle East.
“I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue,” Vance told the young crowd. “What I’m saying,” he added, “is don’t get disengaged.”
The vice president took questions from Turning Point executive Andrew Kolvet instead of Erika Kirk, who began leading the organization after the assassination of her husband Charlie Kirk. Kolvet said Erika Kirk canceled her plans to be on stage because of unspecified threats she had received.
Vance, whose presence ensured significant Secret Service and other law enforcement protection around the venue, said he’d been worried that the event would be canceled altogether.
Kolvet asked Vance directly about the war and Trump’s back-and-forth with Leo. Audience questions were more aggressive. Vance jousted with at least one heckler over the war in Gaza, and he was pressed by another person over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
In the audience, even some of Vance’s sympathetic listeners offered caveats and critiques.
“The pope needs to stay out of politics,” said Jessie Williams, a Methodist. But he noted his mother is Catholic, and he said he understands why Catholics recoil at Trump calling the pope “weak” and suggesting that the first U.S.-born pontiff was chosen only as a counter to Trump.
Williams called Trump’s meme distasteful.
“I don’t like it, but it’s — what can we do?" Williams said. "He’s a grown man, he’s gonna do what he wants.”
Blake McCluggage, a Baptist, said he did not approve of the meme or Trump’s profane Easter Sunday message that threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s civilian infrastructure.
The threat, plus Trump’s follow up message that a “whole civilization” would die, prompted escalating criticism from Leo, with the pope calling the president’s comments “truly unacceptable.”
However, McCluggage said, “you can still be a Republican” despite disagreeing with Trump.
A day before coming to Georgia, Vance tried to laugh off the meme as a joke that “a lot of people weren’t understanding.” The vice president also seemed to echo Trump’s assertion that Leo should concentrate less on global affairs.
“It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance said in a Fox News interview.
On stage in Athens, he shifted his arguments, saying he welcomes Leo’s comments even if he disagrees with them.
“At the very least, it invites conversation,” said Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult.
Still, Vance questioned Leo anew, pushing back specifically at the pope’s Palm Sunday assertion that God does not hear the prayers of those who make war. Leo was quoting scripture from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Vance asked whether God was on the side of Allied forces in World War II as they liberated Jewish survivors of Nazi extermination camps.
“I certainly think the answer is yes,” Vance said. When Leo mixes global affairs and complex theology, Vance said, “it’s very important for the pope to be careful.”
People listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks at a Turning Point USA tour stop at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
People listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks at a Turning Point USA tour stop at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet during a Turning Point USA event at Akins Ford Arena at the Classic Center in Athens, Ga., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a Turning Point USA event at Akins Ford Arena at the Classic Center in Athens, Ga., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)
