Sophie Cunningham is taking another step beyond the court, with reporting that the former Missouri star is joining WNBA coverage alongside Hall of Famer Sue Bird while continuing her playing career. Cunningham is also entering free agency, giving the move immediate weight as she widens her professional profile.
The new role adds television work to a résumé that already includes a standout run at Missouri and a place in the 2026 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. The Athletic reported that Cunningham is expected to balance studio analysis with her duties as a current WNBA player, a combination that signals how quickly her name is expanding beyond basketball. That expansion has also been tracked in prior coverage of her move to the usa network broadcast team.
Cunningham’s rise has been a long time coming. She was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft and remains the all-time leading scorer in Missouri women’s basketball history out of Rock Bridge. She discussed her career before her induction into the MU Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame on the Friday before Sept. 12, another marker of how far her profile has grown since college.
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What makes this moment different is the timing. Cunningham is stepping into broadcasting while free agency leaves her next playing stop unresolved, and that overlap gives the move more importance than a standard media cameo. She is building a second lane without leaving the first, and for now that is the story: Cunningham is not choosing between basketball and visibility, she is pushing into both at once.
