5 best players entering 2025-26 women’s college basketball season

In addition to submitting a preseason top 25 ballot as an Associated Press poll voter for women’s college basketball, the panel is also asked to pick a five-player preseason All-American team.

From last season’s 15-player squads — split into first, second and third teams — 10 players return. That’s including USC superstar JuJu Watkins, who will sit out this season as she recovers from the knee injury she suffered in last season’s NCAA Tournament. But even excluding Watkins, that’s nine great players to choose from for a five-person preseason team, and that’s not including some great talents that were honorable mentions a year ago, like Raegan Beers from Oklahoma, South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards, or Cotie McMahon who has since transferred from Ohio State to Ole Miss.

Putting together a preseason team is always difficult. It’s part what the players have done in their careers so far and part what they have the potential to accomplish in the season to come.

Last season, Watkins and Paige Bueckers were unanimous selections to the 2024 preseason team, and they were joined by Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, USC’s Kiki Iriafen and Madison Booker of Texas. At the end of the season, four of those players landed on the All-American First Team, while Iriafen landed on the AP Third Team.

After much deliberation, here were my choices:

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame — Junior, Guard

A two-time AP First Team All-American, the two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and the conference’s reigning Player of the Year, Hidalgo is going to be asked to do a lot for the Fighting Irish this season. She’s the lone returning starter from last year’s Sweet 16 team, but has proven to be more than capable of being a stellar bus driver for Niele Ivey’s Notre Dame. Hidalgo was fifth nationally in scoring last season and fourth in steals. One could easily make an argument that she’s the best two-way guard in the sport.

Olivia Miles, TCU — Senior, Guard

Hidalgo’s running mate at Notre Dame last season, Miles shocked the college basketball world last spring when she decided to not only forgo the WNBA Draft where she likely would have been a top-five pick, but also to leave South Bend for Fort Worth, Texas. A two-time second-team AP All-American selection, Miles has often garnered praise for passing ability, offensive creativity, superb court vision and awesome playmaking abilities, but last season she also improved dramatically as a 3-point shooter, making north of 40 percent of her looks from deep — a near 18 percent increase from her 2022-23 season marks. She’ll be the leader of a TCU team many expect to again contend for the Big 12 crown.

Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt — Sophomore, Guard

The winner of the USBWA’s Tamika Catchings Award — given annually to the nation’s top freshman — Blakes exploded onto the scene last season and put Vanderbilt on the national radar with her wild scoring performances. Blakes was the only player last year, in men’s or women’s Division I basketball, to score at least 50 points in a single game — and she did it twice, with 55 points at Auburn and 53 points at Florida. Her outburst at Auburn set the SEC single game scoring record and broke the NCAA record held by Elena Delle Donne for the most points scored by a freshman in a single game. Blakes followed her fantastic freshman season up by putting on a show for Team USA this summer, where she led the team to a gold medal and was named MVP of the AmeriCup.

Sarah Strong, UConn — Sophomore, Forward

While Blakes took home the USBWA award, Strong was named Freshman of the Year by the WBCA and immediately showed why she was the No. 1 recruit in the nation. Her versatility helped the Huskies capture the national championship last season and she was also named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team. Strong was the only player in the country last season to average at least 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals per game. She also led the nation in win shares and defensive rating, according to Her Hoop Stats. With Bueckers off to the WNBA, Strong is poised for a bigger role as UConn aims to defend its title.

Lauren Betts, UCLA — Senior, Center

There was a time last season where Betts seemed like the favorite to win the National Player of the Year award. Watkins swooped in and captured that title with a strong finish to the season that included two wins over UCLA, but Betts collected her fair share of hardware too, winning the Lisa Leslie Award for the nation’s top center, the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player, the Defensive Player of the Year from the WBCA and the Naismith committee, and earned a First Team All-American nod. While leading UCLA to its first Final Four in the modern era, Betts averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 64.8 percent from the floor. It’s her presence that makes the Bruins look like contenders again this season.

Also considered: Madison Booker, Texas; Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina; Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Toby Fournier, Duke; Raegan Beers, Oklahoma; Joyce Edwards, South Carolina; Azzi Fudd, UConn; Laura Ziegler, Louisville; Maggie Doogan, Richmond