Sky coach/GM James Wade has officially ruled Allie Quigley out for the team’s season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday (7 p.m., Marquee Sports Network).
Quigley has been practicing in a limited capacity through training camp and said there isn’t anything specific keeping her out of Friday’s game, just a feeling of not being at 100%.
Wade said the decision is precautionary.
“We want to make sure we’re very careful with her,” Wade said. “She’s probably not at 100% and we want to make sure she’s there.”
Quigley expects to be ready to go by Game 3, which is the Sky’s first road game of the season against the Minnesota Lynx at 7 p.m. May 14.
Along with ruling Quigley out for Friday’s game, Wade made his final roster cuts, waiving Masseny Kaba, Kathleen Doyle and Emmanuelle Tahane Thursday afternoon. These cuts bring the Sky’s official roster to 11 players, but four of them are still out of the country.
Kahleah Copper, Julie Allemand and Rebekah Gardner are all finishing up their overseas commitments and are expected in mid-May. Li Yueru’s arrival in Chicago is slightly less solidified because she is working to secure a visa. Her agent, Mike Cound said she is expected to be with the Sky by the end of May.
The absence of these four players drops Wade’s roster to seven players, which is below the league’s required 10 available players for a game. This allows Wade to apply for an emergency hardship exception. Once granted by the league this exception allows him to sign players to replacement contracts.
Wade said he has applied for four hardship exceptions in the absence of Copper, Allemand, Gardner and Li. Once those exceptions are granted, Wade plans to sign Kaela Davis, Tina Krasjisnik, Anneli Maley and Sparkle Taylor to replacement contracts.
Players need to clear a 48-hour waiver window before they can sign a new contract which is why Wade waived them on Wednesday. Once Copper, Allemand, Gardner and Li arrive in Chicago the players signed to replacement contracts will need to be waived.
