UConn gained the title, the teaching carousel stopped turning, and the switch portal got here and went. After a protracted and eventful offseason, the ladies’s school basketball season is sort of right here and there are an countless variety of inquiries to be answered.
Who’s going to stand up in a seemingly wide-open Massive 12? Now separated, will Olivia Miles or Hannah Hidalgo have the higher seasons? Who fills the stardom void left by Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins? After UConn, is the remainder of the Massive East any good? Which mid-major crew goes to shock and shock? Can Mikayla Blakes comply with up her stellar rookie marketing campaign by main the nation in scoring? How will transfers like MiLaysia Fulwiley and Ta’Niya Latson work out?
These questions and those under will form the upcoming season.
Is Sarah Sturdy able to be the bus driver for UConn?
Paige Bueckers is gone. And with all due respect to Azzi Fudd, a supremely proficient shooter and offensive playmaker, Sarah Sturdy is now the highest participant on this crew. The query is: As a sophomore, is she prepared to guide? And can UConn be at its finest when it runs its offense by means of her? And that doesn’t imply simply throwing the ball right down to her within the paint to make sure she’s getting publish touches; it means doubtlessly making Sturdy a point-forward.
There’s different gamers on this roster able to working an offense and creating photographs for others — from KK Arnold to Kayleigh Heckel — however none are as versatile, as proficient, or as sharp as Sturdy. A season in the past, she was second to solely Bueckers on this UConn crew in assists per sport. Sturdy was additionally simply certainly one of 4 gamers nationally final season to common no less than 16 factors, eight rebounds and three assists per sport. She was the one freshman to take action, did it within the least quantity of minutes per sport, and had the best area aim proportion of all of them – 58 %.
Final yr, Sturdy had the luxurious of flying underneath Bueckers’ wing. This yr, the highlight and stress is on her.
What’s going to North Carolina do within the frontcourt?
One may make the argument that a very powerful participant to North Carolina’s resurgence underneath Courtney Banghart was Alyssa Ustby. Over the previous 5 seasons — because the Tar Heels went to 5 NCAA Tournaments, two Candy 16s, and hosted opening weekend video games final yr as a high 16 seed — Ustby was the chief in minutes performed and rebounding, and if there was a stat for hustle and toughness she would have led UNC in that too. Now, in Banghart’s seventh season on the helm, her defensive anchor and do-it-all chief is gone, and along with her is this system’s all-time file for rebounds. Additionally graduated from UNC was dependable publish scorer and rim protector Maria Gakdeng, all 6-foot-5 of her.
Merely put, the Tar Heels had holes to fill within the frontcourt. They grabbed 6-foot-2 ACC veteran Nyla Harris from Louisville by way of the switch portal, however nonetheless have one spot left unsolved. Just a few choices exist:
- Blanca Thomas is a 6-foot-6 sophomore who performed 11 minutes per sport final season. Of anybody on the roster, she’s most like Gakdeng, however is she prepared for a beginning function?
- Ciera Toomey is a redshirt sophomore and a 6-foot-4 former five-star recruit. She performed about 10 minutes per sport final season, however has a skillset that’s far more suited to a stretch-four kind of function.
- Liza Astakhova is 6-foot-2 and simply arrived from Russia. Frankly, not a lot about her is understood. Can the Tar Heels depend on her in 12 months One?
- Transfer Harris to the 5, Indya Nivar to the 4, begin three guards (in all probability Reniya Kelly, Lanie Grant and Elina Aarnisalo) and embrace small-ball.
What North Carolina decides to do with its rotation will likely be one thing to observe all season lengthy.
Which switch class works out the perfect within the ACC?
There was loads of roster turnover within the ACC this yr, because the league returns simply eight of 25 all-conference alternatives.
A handful of groups that missed the NCAA Event final yr — SMU, Clemson, Miami and Virginia — introduced in huge switch portal lessons littered with some spectacular names. Lieberman Award contender Rachael Rose is at Clemson, FIBA standout Gal Raviv has the keys at Miami, former LSU starter Sa’Myah Smith is prepared for an enormous function at Virginia, and Tyi Skinner appears like the perfect participant on a totally reloaded SMU roster.
Which of these huge portal lessons works out the perfect stays to be seen. Elsewhere within the league, some hopeful contenders are going to depend on essential transfers too. Louisville will lean on Laura Ziegler, N.C. State is anticipating huge issues from Khamil Pierre, and Syracuse wants Laila Phelia to be a pacesetter.
Will Gianna Kneepkens be a difference-maker for UCLA?
Final yr, one may make the case that the Bruins have been an excellent, however not nice, 3-point capturing crew. They made about 33 % of their makes an attempt from behind the arc, ok for eightieth nationally. Because the offense ran largely by means of 6-foot-7 middle Lauren Betts, simply two UCLA gamers — Londynn Jones and Timea Gardiner — made a couple of 3-pointer per sport. Jones is gone, now at USC, however the Bruins landed maybe the perfect shooter out there in the portal in Gianna Kneepkens.
At Utah final season, she ranked ninth nationally in 3-pointers made per sport (3.0) and was twenty eighth in capturing proportion from deep with a 44.8 % mark. That clip was additionally sixth finest nationally amongst gamers who tried no less than 6.5 3-pointers per sport final season. Kneepkens is an skilled, dependable and constant 3-point shooter who ought to give UCLA’s offense a professional menace on the perimeter.
The Bruins are additionally getting Charlisse Leger-Walker wholesome. Within the 2022-23 season at Washington State, she made 2.3 3-pointers per sport. The mixture of Kneepkens and Leger-Walker ought to give UCLA a brand new wrinkle on offense and forestall defenses from packing the paint on Betts.
How good will USC be with out JuJu Watkins?
The Trojans went to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season again within the spring. Now, they’re about to embark on a season with out the reigning Nationwide Participant of the 12 months, who continues to be recovering from an ACL tear.
Nonetheless, there’s sufficient expertise on this roster that Lindsay Gottlieb’s crew shouldn’t have to fret about lacking the NCAA Event. Kara Dunn arrives by way of the switch portal from Georgia Tech after a career-best and All-ACC season, Londynn Jones joined USC from rival UCLA, and high 2025 recruit Jazzy Davidson ought to kind a formidable tandem with sophomore Kennedy Smith.
Measurement is a little bit of a priority following the commencement of Rayah Marshall, however the Trojans introduced in two 6-foot-3 forwards in Dayana Mendes and Gerda Raulušaityte. The previous was an All-WCC choice final season at Washington State, whereas the latter was the MVP of the Lithuanian Ladies’s Basketball League. One other publish, 6-foot-5 Yakiya Milton, joins from Auburn.
USC ought to discover itself within the high 4 of the Massive Ten desk this season with a crew able to making the second weekend of the NCAA Event.
What does a Kenny Brooks’ crew with out Liz Kitley or Georgia Amoore seem like?
The final time that Brooks coached a crew and not using a Kitley or Amoore on it was the 2018-19 season at Virginia Tech. That crew went 22-12 and 6-10 in ACC play, lacking the NCAA Event for the ultimate time in Brooks’ tenure in Blacksburg. A season akin to that one this yr at Kentucky would certainly be a disappointment, however there’s no want to fret Massive Blue Nation — this roster is simply too proficient to not go dancing in March.
Three starters from final season’s crew that hosted opening weekend NCAA Event video games return in 6-foot-4 Amelia Hassett, 6-foot-5 Teonni Key and 6-foot-6 Clara Strack. The latter was the SEC Defensive Participant of the 12 months and may be the following Liz Kitley, Key retains getting higher each season and shot north of fifty % from the ground final season, and Hassett is bonus publish depth as a participant who can seize powerful rebounds and knock down 3-pointers.
Filling Amoore’s sneakers to run the offense this season will likely be Tonie Morgan, who has starred at Georgia Tech for the previous three seasons underneath Nell Fortner. A two-time All-ACC choice, Morgan is coming off a season the place she averaged a career-best 5.6 assists per sport and shot a career-high 48.9 % from the ground.
Kenny’s Kentucky will likely be simply nice.
Will another SEC crew severely problem South Carolina for SEC supremacy?
A yr in the past, as soon as the calendar became March, the Gamecocks turned a warfare machine and bulldozed their means by means of the SEC Event and March Insanity. Vic Schaeffer continued his behavior of shedding to Daybreak Staley within the postseason as South Carolina topped his Texas crew within the SEC title sport and on the Remaining 4.
Is anybody else within the convention as much as the duty this season? Possibly.
On paper, LSU appears probably the most proficient, however the Tigers have misplaced 17 straight to the Gamecocks. Will Flau’Jae Johnson and her teammates lastly break that streak in her senior season?
Kentucky has the scale to bang within the paint with a South Carolina crew that doesn’t have the identical publish depth it sometimes has due to two key accidents to Ashlyn Watkins and Chloe Kitts. In a styles-make-fights type of matchup, Tennessee may attempt to make South Carolina run with them in an up-tempo fast-paced sport. May Aaliyah Chavez or Mikayla Blakes placed on a cape and superhero their strategy to a win over the Gamecocks? May Coach Yo lead Ole Miss to a historic win over South Carolina?
Possibly. Possibly. Possibly. However it’s finest to not wager in opposition to Daybreak Staley. If certainly one of these different SEC groups has a professional shot on the king, they finest not miss.
