Another former UConn star could take a prominent role in women’s basketball.

According to multiple media reports, Swin Cash is emerging as a strong candidate to replace Cathy Engelbert as the WNBA commissioner. Engelbert, 61, is scheduled to leave the WNBA at the end of the calendar year.

Cash played at UConn from 1998 to 2002 and was a four-year teammate of Sue Bird. Together, they won two NCAA championships, were selected first (Bird to the Seattle Storm) and second (Cash to the Detroit Shock) in the 2002 WNBA Draft. They became teammates again when Cash was traded to Seattle in 2008.

They won more titles: the WNBA championship in 2010 and two Olympic gold medals.

Both are members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bird, 45, took her leadership role in May 2025 when USA Basketball named her the first managing director of the USA Women’s National Team. She led the selection of the team currently representing the U.S. in the FIBA Women’s World Cup, and will do the same for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

It is a fitting job for Bird, who won five Olympic gold medals and was a 13-time All-Star, given her Team USA legendary status.

It isn’t as if the WNBA has put out a classified ad that says “commissioner wanted” or listed the qualifications. But Cash, 46, has a lot of experience and personal credentials that make her an attractive candidate. She has been on both sides – player and executive – and perhaps could help to connect the two sides.

Experience as a player

Cash played in the WNBA with five teams: Detroit (2002-07), Seattle (2008-11), Chicago Sky (2012-13), Atlanta Dream (2014) and New York Liberty (2014-16). In all, she was a part of three WNBA championship teams and earned four All-Star teams.

Potential as commissioner: Cash would have a firm understanding of the life of a WNBA player. Working conditions, and certainly pay, have improved since her playing days, but it is a unique lifestyle with which Cash can identify.

Experienace in the front office

Cash knows the inner workings of a professional franchise. After her retirement, Cash went to work for the New York Liberty as director of franchise development, a job she held for two years.

Before the 2019-20 season, the New Orleans Pelicans of the NBA named her the vice president of basketball operations and team development. In September 2024, the Pelicans promoted her to senior vice president of basketball operations but the sides parted ways after the Pelicans posted a 21-61 record in the 2024-25 season. It was the team’s fewest wins in a full season since winning 18 games in the 2004-05 season.

Potential as commissioner: Just as Cash understands the WNBA from the perspective of a player, she also has enough front-office experience in a professional league to see the flip side. That management experience would be valuable as commissioner.

Her activism

The WNBA has emerged as a leader among pro sports leagues when it comes to social advocacy in the United States, including racial equality and LGBTQ+ issues.

Potential as commissioner:  Cash likely would walk arm-in-arm with players on issues such as social justice and civil rights. When Brittney Griner was detained in Russia in 2022 on drug charges – and her subsequent conviction – Cash was prominent in the drive to bring Griner back to the U.S.