Way Too Early Top 25
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The 2023-24 women’s college basketball season is behind us and the South Carolina Gamecocks are the champions. It was a great year for SC, as the program went undefeated on its way to the title.
Now, it’s time to look ahead to the future. With Caitlin Clark off to the WNBA, Iowa’s tumbled all the way out of our projected top 25 for next season, but where do all the other top programs rank? Below is a way-too-early look at the 2024-25 season.
Way Too Early Top 25
The defending champions are the clear choice for the top spot. Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley has built a dynasty in Columbia, and while Kamilla Cardoso is heading for the WNBA, a team built around players like Raven Johnson, Te-Hina Paopao, Ashlyn Watkins, Bree Hall, MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson will likely run through the SEC again in 2025.
The Longhorns grabbed a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament despite an injury sidelining star point guard Rori Harmon. With Harmon out, freshman Madison Booker burst onto the scene, winning Big 12 Co-Player of the Year. Pairing Booker and a healthy Harmon will give the Longhorns arguably the best backcourt in the country. The team has to replace Shaylee Gonzales, but Vic Schaefer’s team still brings back a ton of talent. Texas moves to the SEC next season, so we’ll get to see some potential championship game previews with the Horns and Gamecocks.
Paige Bueckers is back, which alone is enough to make the Huskies a top-five team. I’ve got them three because I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for some good injury luck. If UConn gets full seasons from Azzi Fudd, Carolina Ducharme and Aubrey Griffin, then this team will be really, really good. Oh, and No. 1 freshman Sarah Strong joins the program as well. The 6-foot-2 forward should make an immediate impact in Storrs.
Two words: JuJu Watkins. After posting one of the best freshman seasons ever, Watkins is back to do it all over again as a sophomore. With Caitlin Clark now in the WNBA, Watkins takes the mantle as the best scorer in college basketball. The Trojans have some depth concerns, but add six of ESPN’s top 100 recruits, led by No. 6-ranked Kennedy Smith, who’ll likely be asked to play a large role on the wing early on. USC feels a little boom-or-bust next season, but with a player like Watkins, the booms can be really, really high.
Olivia Miles should be back next season after missing this past year due to injury. Miles is one of the best point guards in the country when healthy and now will pair with another elite passer, Hannah Hidalgo. This Fighting Irish offense is going to be impossible to stop with those two running the show.
Charisma Osborne might be gone, but the Bruins return a lot of talent. The headliner here is Lauren Betts, who showcased why she was the No. 1 recruit from her high school class. However, Kiki Rice might be the biggest name to watch next season after she increased her numbers across the board during her sophomore season.
NC State making the Final Four was unexpected. Not because the Wolfpack aren’t a talented team, but because the team wasn’t supposed to be this good this quickly. This young squad has a fun and deep backcourt, headlined by Aziaha James, who took a true star turn during this year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers won’t have Angel Reese next season, but they will have Aneesah Morrow and Flau’jae Johnson, which is definitely good enough to keep them as a top-10 team. One big question is whether Sa’Myah Smith can make a big impact after playing just seven games before an injury ended her season. She was averaging 11.7 points on 66.0% shooting before the injury, albeit against a relatively weak cast of non-conference opponents.
Cameron Brink might be gone, but the Cardinal will recover quickly and remain a top-10 program. Kiki Iriafen averaged 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per game last season and will help the team weather Brink’s loss. They’ll need other names to step up if they want to contend for a title, but at the very least they’ll be huge threats in the ACC.
Note: This was written before head coach Tara VanDerveer retired on Tuesday. It’s impossible to gauge the impact of that at this time, but it’s possible that it leads to Stanford dropping in these rankings between now and the start of the season.
The Cyclones brought in a really good freshman class last season, which was expected to help the team rebuild after the loss of program stalwart Ashley Joens. But the rebuild wound up looking more like a reload thanks to Audi Crooks and Addy Brown. Crooks averaged 19.2 points and 7.8 rebounds a Cyclones squad that inches from a Sweet 16 berth. With Emily Ryan set to return as well, the Cyclones might be the class of the Big 12.
Despite what certain articles about a certain former Baylor coach might say, the Bears are still a top program. Maybe they won’t win a title next season, but Nicki Collen’s squad has one of the most intriguing backcourts in the nation with Sarah Andrews and Jada Walker. They’ll need to figure out how to replace Aijha Blackwell and Dre’Una Edwards, but there are some pieces who are set to step up, including Bella Fontleroy, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs and incoming freshman Kayla Nelms.
A young Duke team is ready to take the leap. Reigan Richardson averaged 12.4 points and 12.4 rebounds per game last season for the Blue Devils and is a great candidate to take an even bigger step forward next season. This defensive-minded squad will be tough to beat.
There was some chatter that Jeff Walz could leave Louisville for the Kentucky job, but Walz is back in Louisville. The Cardinals return three of their top five scorers, headlined by Olivia Cochran, who averaged 10.8 points per game last season.
Ayoka Lee is back for one more season. It’s been a long college journey for the center, who missed the entire 2022-23 season. In her return last year, she averaged 19.7 points per game on 61.9% shooting with 8.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. Not as dominant as years past, Lee’s still capable of putting up huge numbers every night.
In Mark Kellogg’s first season with the Mountaineers, the team won 25 games and had the fourth-best defensive rating in the country. JJ Quinerly had a breakout season, averaging 19.8 points per game on 46.2% shooting. Jordan Harrison, the WAC Freshman of the Year in 2022-23 at Stephen F. Austin, made an immediate impact in the Big 12, putting up 13.5 points, 5.2 assists and 2.9 steals per contest.
There might not be a tougher team to predict than the Beavers. Timea Gardner and Talia von Oelhoffen are in the transfer portal, but as long as Reagan Beers is back in Corvallis, this team will win a lot of games. It also helps that they’ll be playing a WCC schedule now that the Pac-12’s been dismantled, so there are a lot of wins up for grabs.
This isn’t the most complete team in the world, but the Seminoles have Ta’Niya Latson, which is more than what most teams can say. The sophomore averaged 21.4 points per game last season while also adding 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals. Someone else has to step up, but Latson’s a great building block.
Losing Jacy Sheldon to the WNBA hurts the Buckeyes, but that also clears space for a Cotie McMahon breakout campaign. As a sophomore, McMahon saw a slight drop in her numbers, but she remains an extremely talented wing. The Buckeyes also add No. 3 overall recruit Jaloni Cambridge to the mix.
Oklahoma’s performance this season was a little surprising, as the team had to replace long-time stars Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson but managed to win the Big 12 regular season title. Skylar Vann stepped up, winning the Big 12 Co-Player of the Year award. The move to the SEC probably hurts the Sooners as far as win-loss record goes, but they’re still a really good basketball team.
The Crimson Tide are coming off their third consecutive 20-win season, with the team going 24-10 last year and ranking 29th in Her Hoop Stats Rating. That whole core is set to return, headlined by Sarah Ashlee Barker and her 16.8 points per game.
Nebraska’s been a team on the precipice for a while, it seems. Last year, the Cornhuskers won 23 games, and while Jaz Shelley will be gone, Alexis Markowski is back. She averaged 15.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last season. There’s plenty of young talent surrounding her as well.
The Fighting Illini might have missed the NCAA Tournament last season, but a WBIT title was a good consolation prize. It sounds like most of the core will return, so this could be a breakout campaign for a team that might be the best surprise in college basketball over the past two seasons. In 2021-22, the Illini won just seven games, their seventh season since 2010-11 with single-digit wins. Now, they’ve won 41 games in a two-year span.
The Bluejays won 26 games last season, their most since the 1991-92 season. The biggest reason was the offense, which ranked 14th in offensive rating. Emma Ronsiek being in the transfer portal hurts, but assuming Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly both return, this team will be the clear No. 2 team in the Big East, behind only UConn.
Deja Kelly entering the transfer portal is a huge blow, but the Tarheels should still have Lexi Donarski and Alyssa Ustby. Plus Courtney Banghart always seems to bring in freshman talent, with two top 70 recruits joining this class. Losing Kelly probably drops them 10 spots or so over where they might have been, but they’re still a top 25 program.
While the Utes lose Alissa Pili, the team should have Gianna Kneepkens back. Kneepkens played just six games this past season, averaging 16.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals. She’s a high-level scorer who can really help ease the pain of Pili’s absence. Utah’s move to the Big 12 also opens up some additional chances for wins, as the conference shouldn’t be as tough as this season’s Pac-12 was.
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
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