NCAAW: From South Carolina to USC to UConn, what to expect in 2024-25

Just one week until the start of the 2024-25 NCAAW basketball season. In anticipation, here’s a quick catch up on what’s happened around the sport, from preseason rankings to NIL deals to conference realignment and key transfers:

South Carolina is No. 1 in preseason Top 25

On October 15, the AP revealed its top-25 preseason poll:

1. South Carolina (27) 2. UConn (2) 3. USC (1) 4. Texas 5. UCLA 6. Notre Dame 7. LSU 8. Iowa State 9. NC State 10. Oklahoma 11. Duke 12. Baylor 13. Kansas State 14. Ohio State. 15. UNC 16. West Virginia 17. Louisville 18. Maryland 19. Florida State 20. Ole Miss 21. Creighton 22. Kentucky 23. Nebraska 24. Alabama 25. Indiana

The defending champions from South Carolina, after finishing the last season undefeated and losing only one player to the WNBA (albeit a significant one in Kamilla Cardoso), enter the 2024-25 season at the head of the class, receiving 27 of 30 first-place votes. UConn earned two first-place votes, with USC receiving one.

Led by South Carolina, the SEC has a conference-high seven ranked teams, with four, including conference newcomers Texas and Oklahoma, in the top 10.

Bueckers, Watkins lead preseason All-America selections

On October 22, the AP announced its preseason All-America team, with UConn redshirt senior guard Paige Bueckers and USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins both earning unanimous selections. Notre Dame sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo, Texas sophomore forward Madison Booker and USC senior forward KiKi Iriafen round out the preseason All-America squad.

Other players who received votes were UCLA junior center Lauren Betts, Kentucky graduate guard Georgia Amoore, Oklahoma junior center Raegan Beers, Kansas State graduate center Ayoka Lee, LSU senior guard Aneesah Morrow and junior guard Flau’jae Johnson, Texas senior guard Rori Harmon, Iowa State sophomore center Audi Crooks, South Carolina sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, junior guard Raven Johnson and senior guard Te-Hina Paopao.

The 30-member panel that votes in the AP’s weekly top 25 poll also participated in the selection of the five-player team.

JuJu’s new deals

USC sophomore JuJu Watkins is a superstar on the court and off the court. Earlier this month, she extended her contract with Nike, giving her one of the most lucrative shoe endorsement deals in women’s basketball. Watkins originally signed with the brand in October 2022, when she was a high school senior.

As our Edwin Garcia reported, Watkins also joined Gatorade’s team of elite athletes.

Conference check ins

The combination of conference realignment and the transfer portal, along with the comings and goings of head coaches, can make it difficult to get handle on the women’s college hoops landscape. Here’s a quick primer:

ACC

Stanford, Cal and SMU make their ACC debuts in 2024-25. The Cardinal also have a new head coach, as Kate Paye takes over after the retirement of the legendary Tara Vanderveer. Virginia Tech, Miami and Clemson also sport new head coaches. Megan Duffy, formerly of Marquette, helms the Hokies. Tricia Cullop, previously at Toledo, is in charge in Coral Gables. Shawn Poppie heads from Chattanooga to Clemson.

The Hurricanes also welcome the return of fifth-year senior guard Haley Cavinder, who had retired from college basketball after the 2023 season but has decided to exercise her final year of eligibility. Up in South Bend, Notre Dame is excited for the return of senior guard Olivia Miles, who missed all of last season rehabbing a knee injury; the Irish also add a pair of fifth-year senior forwards from the transfer portal in Liza Karlen (Marquette) and Liatu King (Pittsburgh).

Big East

The heavily-favored Huskies have reloaded, not only welcoming back guard Paige Bueckers for a fifth and final season, as well as the numerous players who were sidelined by injuries last season, but also anticipating the arrival of guard Kaitlyn Chen, the 2023 Ivy League Player of the Year who, after four seasons at Princeton, will play her graduate season at UConn. Freshman forward Sarah Strong, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2024, further strengthens the souped-up squad from Storrs.

Elsewhere around the Big East, former Charlotte head coach Cara Consuegra takes over at Marquette, while Darnell Haney is officially the head coach at Georgetown after filling the role in an interim capacity last season. DePaul head coach Doug Bruno is expected to be away from the team indefinitely after undergoing an undisclosed medical incident in September.

Big Ten

The Big Ten is much bigger. Not only have USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joined the conference, but two of those teams—the Trojans and Bruins—also bring some of the sport’s biggest names and highest expectations. At USC, a pair of transfers in senior forward KiKi Iriafen (Stanford) and fifth-year senior guard Talia von Oelhoffen (Oregon State), along with the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, will form a new, stronger supporting cast around sophomore star JuJu Watkins. Rival UCLA also is loaded, adding junior forward Janiah Barker (Texas A&M), fifth-year guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State) and junior forward Timea Garnder (Oregon State). The Ducks also will look for a bounce-back season in the Big Ten, boosted by fifth-year senior guard Deja Kelly (UNC).

The conference’s old standbys, however, will not easily cede ground to the newcomers, first among them being Iowa, which enters a new era with Jan Jensen as head coach and Lucy Olsen (Villanova) as the scoring star. Ohio State looks to remain competitive via the arrivals of fifth-year senior forward Ajae Petty (Kentucky) and junior guard Chance Gray (Oregon). A haul of transfers, among them senior forwards Christina Dalce (Villanova) and Amari DeBerry (UConn), senior guard Mir McLean (UConn/UVA) and junior guard Saylor Poffenbarger (UConn/Arkansas), are hoping to help Maryland rebound after a down season, while senior forward Karoline Striplin (Tennessee) and junior guard Shay Ciezki (Penn State) will look bring their 3-point shooting prowess to Indiana.

Big 12

Expect the Big 12 to remain a hotbed for women’s college hoops, as the departures of Texas and Oklahoma have been balanced by the arrivals of Pac-12 expatriates Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.

Kansas State, again led by indomitable grad center Ayoka Lee, and Iowa State, set to be steered by sophomore star center Audi Crooks, should benefit from continuity in a swiftly shifting women’s college basketball landscape, while Baylor will hope for a boost from senior forward transfer Aaronette Vonleh (Colorado). TCU will look to enter to the national rankings through the addition of grad guards Hailey Van Lith (LSU), Maddie Scherr (Kentucky) and Agnes Emma-Nnopu (Stanford).

TCU has given no indication that graduate center Sedona Prince will be away from the team. Prince’s former partner, Olivia Stabile, shared a series to TikToks that alleged Prince verbally and physically abused her.

SEC

With the arrival of Texas and Oklahoma, can South Carolina continue to reign supreme in the SEC? The two conference newcomers will benefit from their own newcomers. Senior wing Laila Phelia (Michigan) joins a Texas team that also is welcoming back senior guard Rori Harmon, who missed much of last season with a torn ACL. Oklahoma added junior center Raegan Beers (Oregon State).

After a down season, Kentucky hopes to rise up the ranks, with new head coach Kenny Brooks bringing star grad point guard Georgia Amoore with him from Blacksburg to the Bluegrass State. Up in Knoxville, new head coach Kim Caldwell is charged with taking Tennessee back to the (Rocky) top of the SEC. Caldwell’s tenure at Tennessee will begin without senior guard Kaiya Wynn, who tore her Achilles in a mid-October practice.

The Gamecocks enter the season with the status of junior forward Ashlyn Watkins uncertain due to an ongoing legal situation, but Dawn Staley’s squad remains stacked, further enhanced by freshman forward Joyce Edwards, the Gatorade National Player of the Year. (Edwards did nothing to quell expectations in her debut, posting 19 points and 12 rebounds, in only 18 minutes, in South Carolina’s first scrimmage.)

A few more new faces in new places who are intent upon helping their teams make noise in the conference include LSU senior guard Shayeann Day-Wilson (Miami), Auburn sophomore guard Taliah Scott (Arkansas), Mississippi State grad wing Eniya Russell (Kentucky) and Arkansas senior guard Izzy Higginbottom (Arkansas State).