A report out of Canada indicates that a Jackson County Central graduate is set to help lead a new WNBA franchise.
Teresa Resch left her position as Vice-President of Basketball Operations and Player Development for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reported that Resch left the Raptors “to seek other professional opportunities.” Officials of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Maple Leafs, Raptors, TFC, Argos and Marlies, said that Resch exited with great respect.
Raptors minority owner and billionaire Larry Tanenbaum is bidding for a proposed WNBA expansion franchise in Toronto.
According to Shireen Ahmed of CBC Sports, Resch is set to help lead that franchise. CBC reports that “an announcement could come as soon as May.”
There’s no clarity on exactly what role Resch would have with the franchise.
Toronto hosted a sold-out WNBA preseason game between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky in May 2023. At the time, league commissioner Cathy Englebert said Toronto was on a shortlist of 10 cities the league was looking at for expansion.
In October, the WNBA awarded its 13th franchise to the NBA's Golden State Warriors and planned to give one to a group in Portland as well before putting that bid on hold because of issues with its arena.
Englebert said then that the league's "goal is to have a 14th team by 2025" and reiterated that discussions were still underway with several cities.
Resch played volleyball, basketball and golf at JCC and went on to play volleyball at Augustana University.
She met Toronto President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri when she worked for the NBA head office with a focus on the league’s Basketball Without Borders program. Resch was the first of 14 women hired by Ujiri who were still working for the organization when the Raptors won the league title in 2019.