NCAAW: Players who can raise their WNBA Draft stock in 2025 Tournament

With the 2025 WNBA Draft just a month away, WNBA coaches and general managers are likely putting the finishing touches on their respective draft strategies. For teams like the Dallas Wings, Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics, who own the first three picks in the draft, the upcoming selections will be easy ones; elite talents like Paige Bueckers, Olivia Miles and Dominique Malonga are all no-brainer selections and will undoubtedly be drafted very early.

How the later stages of the draft pan out, though, is anyone’s guess. This is where WNBA teams could still be willing to be swayed. For instance, while the Indiana Fever own picks No. 19 and 20, the organization will obviously need more than two names to target in case earlier picks don’t fall as expected. The front office will need a group of players on their draft board that they’ll anticipate being able to choose from.

And what better way for a draft-bound player to rise up those draft boards than to play well in the NCAA Tournament? It’s a golden opportunity for WNBA hopefuls to make a strong final impression. March is when the lights shine the brightest after all, and how draft-eligible players perform on the national stage is one of many things those coaches and general managers will be taking into account as they finalize their draft strategies. Here are just a few of those players who could use the 2025 NCAA Tournament to solidify their WNBA Draft stock.

Sania Feagin (South Carolina)

The Gamcocks’ frontcourt depth took a big hit when forward Ashlyn Watkins suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the new year, but South Carolina has been able to maintain its momentum since then, finishing 30-3 overall and winning the SEC Tournament. That’s thanks in large part to the play of Feagin, who, despite being a top recruit in the class of 2021 (No. 4 overall, according to ESPN HoopGurlz), had played sparingly for the Gamecocks—until now.

That’s not a slight on Feagin’s ability. She’s just spent most of her time at South Carolina playing behind WNBA-caliber talents, such as Aliyah Boston, Victaria Saxton and Kamilla Cardoso. Recently, though, Feagin has taken full advantage of the opportunity she’s waited years for, averaging 9.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21.6 minutes played per game since Watkins got hurt. Perhaps most impressively, she’s shot an incredible 66.4 percent from the field during that span, while, as noted by The Next’s Hunter Cruse, being a remarkably efficient midrange jumpshooter for a player at her position.

It should go without saying that the Gamecocks will garner quite a bit of attention this spring as they play for their second-straight NCAA championship, and that much visibility is sure to produce new storylines. WNBA coaches are already well-aware of Feagin’s talent, and if she plays a prominent role for South Carolina during another deep tournament run, that might be all the convincing they need that she’s truly ready to be a pro.

Maddy Westbeld (Notre Dame)

All season long, the electrifying guard play of Olivia Miles, Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron has carried the Fighting Irish both on the court and in the highlight reels. The trio of perimeter players is not only one of the country’s most productive, but also one of its most exciting, and you’ll be seeing quite a bit of those players as Notre Dame tries to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2019.

The sheer amount of star power at Notre Dame’s disposal may overshadow the contributions of its other players, including Westbeld, who has plenty to gain from a strong tournament showing. The 6-foot-3 forward missed the first half of her graduate season with a foot injury and has slowly been eased back into things, so it’s understandable that she’s not producing at the level she did last season: 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

Efficiency-wise, though, Westbeld is playing some of her best basketball, shooting a career-high 57.3 percent on 2-pointers and 35.7 percent from long range. She’s also blocking shots at a higher rate than ever (4.2 percent; Her Hoop Stats). Westbeld may not be the star of the show at Notre Dame, but she has an excellent complementary skillset, and WNBA teams will be hoping she has a healthy and productive NCAA Tournament—particularly those who are looking to draft a stretch big.

Sarah Ashlee Barker (Alabama)

After a rocky start to her collegiate career, Barker has been a completely different player during her final two seasons at Alabama. As a graduate student, Barker posted averages of 17.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and two steals per game while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor, and earned First Team All-SEC honors for the second-consecutive year.

Alabama isn’t a shoo-in for a top seed like South Carolina and Notre Dame and, come tournament time, may even be the underdog in certain matchups, which will open the door for Barker to show the country what she’s capable of. A talented downhill scorer, Barker drives the Crimson Tide’s offense in numerous ways; she is just as effective spotting up (36.8 percent on 3.3 3-point attempts per game) as she is taking the ball to the rim. Barker isn’t a ball-dominant guard, but she does have some pick-and-roll playmaking ability, and along with Zaay Green (4.5 assists per game) and Karly Weathers (3.4 assists per game) she makes up a group of Alabama perimeter players that take turns initiating plays rather than rely on one “true” point guard to do so.

Factor in Barker’s height (6-foot-0) and you have a recipe for a potential jack-of-all-trades offensive player: a large guard who can shoot from the outside and create shots for herself and others. How many of those facets will translate to the WNBA level? That remains to be seen, but if Barker leads Alabama on a successful NCAA Tournament run, WNBA teams might be more willing to find out.

Taylor Thierry (Ohio State)

If Ohio State is going to redeem itself after a disappointing performance in last year’s NCAA Tournament, it’s going to have to play some defense. The Buckeyes held their own in the new-look Big Ten by playing a havoc-inducing brand of basketball, forcing 21.9 turnovers per game, and how effectively they physically overwhelm their opponents in the full court will determine how far they advance this year.

Thierry may not be a household name outside of the Big Ten, but she’s made a name for herself over the years as one of the conference’s most active defensive players. At 6-foot-1, Thierry has considerable length for a wing, and the 3.1 percent steal rate she recorded as a senior was a career-high (Her Hoop Stats). Thierry also has a remarkable nose for the basketball, having averaged better than two offensive rebounds for the third-consecutive season. In short, she does much of the dirty work that makes Ohio State such a nuisance to play against—and she does it well.

It’s Thierry’s offense, though, that could increase her chance of getting drafted. While she’s never been known as a scorer, she’s shooting 59.4 percent from the field during her career as a Buckeye, which is an eye-popping number for a perimeter player. She’s also recently shown glimpses of a 3-point shot, going 26-for-54 (48.1 percent) from beyond the arc as a senior. It’s a small sample size, but if WNBA coaches believe that Thierry’s offense will continue developing, it will make the rest of her skillset that much more appealing.