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 faculty basketball season is almost right here and there are an countless variety of inquiries to be answered.
Who’s going to stand up in a seemingly wide-open Large 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 Large East any good? Which mid-major staff goes to shock and shock? Can Mikayla Blakes observe 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 Robust able to be the bus driver for UConn?
Paige Bueckers is gone. And with all due respect to Azzi Fudd, a supremely gifted shooter and offensive playmaker, Sarah Robust is now the highest participant on this staff. The query is: As a sophomore, is she prepared to guide? And can UConn be at its finest when it runs its offense by way of her? And that doesn’t imply simply throwing the ball right down to her within the paint to make sure she’s getting submit touches; it means probably making Robust 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 gifted, or as sharp as Robust. A season in the past, she was second to solely Bueckers on this UConn staff in assists per recreation. Robust was additionally simply certainly one of 4 gamers nationally final season to common at the least 16 factors, eight rebounds and three assists per recreation. She was the one freshman to take action, did it within the least quantity of minutes per recreation, and had the best area aim share of all of them – 58 %.
Final yr, Robust had the posh of flying below Bueckers’ wing. This yr, the highlight and strain is on her.
What is going to North Carolina do within the frontcourt?
One may make the argument that a very powerful participant to North Carolina’s resurgence below 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 together with her is this system’s all-time report for rebounds. Additionally graduated from UNC was dependable submit 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 through 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 recreation 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 recreation final season, however has a skillset that’s far more fitted 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 thought. Can the Tar Heels rely on her in 12 months One?
- Transfer Harris to the 5, Indya Nivar to the 4, begin three guards (most likely Reniya Kelly, Lanie Grant and Elina Aarnisalo) and embrace small-ball.
What North Carolina decides to do with its rotation might be one thing to look at all season lengthy.
Which switch class works out the perfect within the ACC?
There was a whole lot of roster turnover within the ACC this yr, because the league returns simply eight of 25 all-conference choices.
A handful of groups that missed the NCAA Match 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 a giant function at Virginia, and Tyi Skinner appears to be like like the perfect participant on a very 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 rely 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 frontrunner.
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 taking pictures staff. They made about 33 % of their makes an attempt from behind the arc, adequate for eightieth nationally. Because the offense ran largely by way of 6-foot-7 middle Lauren Betts, simply two UCLA gamers — Londynn Jones and Timea Gardiner — made a couple of 3-pointer per recreation. 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 recreation (3.0) and was twenty eighth in taking pictures share from deep with a 44.8 % mark. That clip was additionally sixth finest nationally amongst gamers who tried at the least 6.5 3-pointers per recreation final season. Kneepkens is an skilled, dependable and constant 3-point shooter who ought to give UCLA’s offense a reliable risk 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 recreation. 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 staff shouldn’t have to fret about lacking the NCAA Match. Kara Dunn arrives through 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.
Dimension 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 Girls’s Basketball League. One other submit, 6-foot-5 Yakiya Milton, joins from Auburn.
USC ought to discover itself within the high 4 of the Large Ten desk this season with a staff able to making the second weekend of the NCAA Match.
What does a Kenny Brooks’ staff with out Liz Kitley or Georgia Amoore appear to be?
The final time that Brooks coached a staff and not using a Kitley or Amoore on it was the 2018-19 season at Virginia Tech. That staff went 22-12 and 6-10 in ACC play, lacking the NCAA Match for the ultimate time in Brooks’ tenure in Blacksburg. A season akin to that one this yr at Kentucky would absolutely be a disappointment, however there’s no want to fret Large Blue Nation — this roster is just too gifted to not go dancing in March.
Three starters from final season’s staff that hosted opening weekend NCAA Match 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 could 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 submit depth as a participant who can seize robust rebounds and knock down 3-pointers.
Filling Amoore’s footwear to run the offense this season might be Tonie Morgan, who has starred at Georgia Tech for the previous three seasons below 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 recreation and shot a career-high 48.9 % from the ground.
Kenny’s Kentucky might be simply fantastic.
Will another SEC staff severely problem South Carolina for SEC supremacy?
A yr in the past, as soon as the calendar became March, the Gamecocks grew to become a conflict machine and bulldozed their means by way of the SEC Match and March Insanity. Vic Schaeffer continued his behavior of shedding to Daybreak Staley within the postseason as South Carolina topped his Texas staff within the SEC title recreation and on the Remaining 4.
Is anybody else within the convention as much as the duty this season? Possibly.
On paper, LSU appears to be like probably the most gifted, 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 staff that doesn’t have the identical submit depth it usually 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 recreation. Might Aaliyah Chavez or Mikayla Blakes placed on a cape and superhero their strategy to a win over the Gamecocks? Might Coach Yo lead Ole Miss to a historic win over South Carolina?
Possibly. Possibly. Possibly. However it’s finest to not guess towards Daybreak Staley. If certainly one of these different SEC groups has a reliable shot on the king, they finest not miss.
