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Who will be the most intriguing women’s college basketball players in 2024-25?

Who will be the most intriguing women’s college basketball players in 2024-25?
NCAA Womens Basketball

Who will be the most intriguing women’s college basketball players in 2024-25?

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The 2024-25 college basketball season is on the horizon, and it’s going to look different. Gone is the Pac-12 as we’ve known it. The Big Ten and ACC are now both bicoastal conferences — nothing like the opportunity to see both the Pacific and Atlantic in the same conference season, right? Tara VanDerveer is no longer on a sideline.

And yet, the game has never been better.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese helped push television viewership to levels that some thought women’s hoops would never see. Even with their departures to the WNBA, unprecedented interest is evident as the page turns to women’s college hoops. New stars will take their places — players like JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers — but even beyond the obvious principal talents, dozens of players’ seasons will prompt questions and intrigue.

Every player on this list is elite in her own right, but each also has storylines and unanswered questions that make her a must-see player. Later this month, we’ll introduce The Athletic’s top 20 players for 2024-25, but first, let’s take a look at the players who we think are the most intriguing.

Raegan Beers

Oklahoma, junior center

2023-24 stats: 17.5 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 1.2 SPG (Oregon State)

After leading Oregon State to the Elite Eight and the ensuing collapse of the Pac-12 as we knew it, the 6-foot-4 center became one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal. She landed with Oklahoma, which seemed like an interesting choice in terms of game style. The Sooners attempted more 3-pointers than 94 percent of teams, and they averaged nearly 10 more possessions per game than the Beavers, but that’s what makes Beers so intriguing in Norman. How will she adjust to the speed and pace of Jennie Baranczyk’s scheme when it’s so different from what she excelled in at Oregon State? Alternatively, how will Baranczyk use Beers’ unique skills in a way to change up what she does? Will the balance between the 3-point and 2-point shots shift? With the Sooners entering the SEC, they’ll have their work cut out for them in the paint, but Beers gives them a chance to go toe-to-toe with any inside presence in the country. Add that already established 3-point shooting, and Oklahoma could be dangerous.

Maddie Booker

Texas, sophomore wing

2023-24 stats: 16.5 PPG, 5.0 APG, 5.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG

After All-American point guard Rori Harmon went down with injury just 12 games into last season, Texas turned to true freshman Maddie Booker, who had never played the position before. In what could’ve (or should’ve) been a deeply overwhelming situation, Booker thrived, leading the Longhorns in scoring and assists. Typically, there’s a huge jump between freshman and sophomore seasons as players finally adapt to the speed of the game and benefit from a full offseason in the strength and conditioning program. We’ll get to see what not only the sophomore version of Booker looks like but also what she looks like back at her natural wing position while deploying the lessons she gained while operating as a point guard. Add Harmon back into the mix, and Booker becomes even more of a threat. It’s going to be a fun year in Austin.

UConn, fifth-year guard

2023-24 stats: 15.8 PPG, 4.9 APG, 3.5 RPG (Princeton)

Chen’s exploits against power conference teams during her Ivy League career have been well documented, but at UConn, she’ll be surrounded by the most talented teammates she has ever had. Her job? Elevating all that talent around her. With Bueckers back in her natural position, a more physical inside game with Jana El Alfy and Sarah Strong, Azzi Fudd potentially back to full health at some point, as well as Ashlynn Shade and KK Arnold taking the sophomore jump, the Huskies have a visible path to the title. They were just missing an elite point guard with playmaking abilities who could avoid unnecessary mistakes. The Huskies haven’t won a national title since 2016. But if Chen can be that elite lead guard, the Huskies could return to the top spot.

South Carolina, sophomore guard

2023-24 stats: 11.7 PPG, 2.2 APG, 2.9 RPG

At last season’s Final Four, South Carolina assistant Khadijah Sessions told me that she believed Fulwiley was the most “high-risk, high-reward” player Dawn Staley had ever coached. Fulwiley was a walking highlight reel even if her stats might not have jumped off the page like other freshmen across the country. But that was because she played limited minutes (just 18 per game) as Staley worked to mold a freshman with seemingly uncapped raw potential into a perfect long-term fit in her Gamecocks’ scheme. As a sophomore, how will Fulwiley work to display even more of her potential while minimizing the mistakes that came with her inexperience last season? The defending champs have the veteran players in place to firmly put themselves at the top of the SEC, but Fulwiley has the potential to be one of the most electric players on the hardwood this season.

Notre Dame, redshirt junior guard

2022-23 stats: 14.3 PPG, 6.9 APG, 7.3 RPG

It has been a year and a half since we’ve seen Miles on the floor, and in her absence, another dynamic Notre Dame backcourt star was born: Hannah Hidalgo. This season, expect sophomore Hidalgo and veteran Miles to combine powers as one of the most feared backcourt duos in the country, while being coached by one of the best backcourt players (Niele Ivey) in Notre Dame history. Not a bad combo, right? But the main question is: How will Miles look in her return? Miles and Hidalgo are terrific stars in their own rights, but now they must come together in a way that they probably have never had to in their careers. I’ll be looking at the more veteran of the two to see how Miles adjusts and accommodates. With a year on the bench player-coaching, how will she continue to elevate her game and others’ while combining with a teammate whose talents are undeniable?

Iowa, senior guard

2023-24 stats: 23.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.9 SPG (Villanova)

With the departures of star Caitlin Clark and six-year player Kate Martin, its first new coach in two and a half decades and a conference that welcomes four new teams, no one expects Iowa to look exactly like it did a season ago. But the Hawkeyes knew they needed to add to their arsenal for their high-powered offense to continue as a threat in the Big Ten. They found it in Olsen. At Villanova, Olsen studied behind Maddy Siegrist and then, in Siegrist’s departure, Olsen became a dominant scorer. Sydney Affolter and Kylie Feuerbach are efficient, capable players, but Olsen’s midrange and attacking game will elevate the Hawkeyes. Can her 3-point shooting develop enough that she can force defenses to respect her range and help spread the floor for other playmakers and Hannah Stuelke inside? If Iowa wants to compete in the Big Ten race, Olsen needs to live up to expectations.

Maryland, fifth-year senior wing

2023-24 stats: 15.6 PPG, 5.5 APG, 5.8 RPG, 1.3 SPG

There aren’t many Big Ten players as decorated as Sellers. She already has been the league’s freshman of the year (2021), sixth player of the year (2022), all-defensive team member (2023) and first-team selection (2024). I’ve been a fan of her game for a long time. When you see her on the floor, it seems like she has all the tools for a long and successful WNBA career. During her college career, Sellers has been surrounded by a ton of talent — Diamond Miller, Angel Reese, Abby Meyers — but with the turnover at College Park, the group assembled by Brenda Frese this offseason (around Sellers) might just be the best team Sellers has been on at Maryland. The Big Ten is deeper this season, yes, but could Sellers take her game to another level and put the Terrapins at the top of the (even bigger) Big Ten? Don’t count out this vet to make a push to earn the one conference award she has never won … player of the year.

USC, fifth-year guard

2023-24 stats: 10.7 PPG, 5.0 APG, 4.1 RPG (Oregon State)

Between Watkins and Kiki Iriafen, USC has two of the three best players in the country. Even so, coach Lindsay Gottlieb felt it necessary to go into the portal and find more talent to make the Trojans national championship contenders. Enter von Oelhoffen, a steady lead guard who, like Beers at Oklahoma, will work in a significantly more up-tempo system, but here, the fit feels a bit more natural. If von Oelhoffen can fill a mix of the responsibilities Kayla Padilla and McKenzie Forbes handled last season, while unlocking the tandem of Watkins-Iriafen (plus Rayah Marshall), USC has a chance to punch a ticket to the Final Four to complete one of the fastest and most impressive program turnarounds in recent history. Every guard across the country will be tasked with making the players around them better, but only von Oelhoffen will be tasked with making two of the top three players in the country better.

(Photo of Raegan Beers, left: Andy Lyons / Getty Images; photo of Olivia Miles: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)



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