Identifying upcoming stars in women’s college basketball

The post-Caitlin Clark era in women’s college basketball has begun — but that doesn’t mean the talent pool in the sport is getting any smaller.

As the offseason begins, On3’s Talia Goodman sat down with Andy Staples to identify some of the top players fans should have on their radar ahead of the 2024-25 season. It comes down to two women, according to Goodman.

“I hate to go back to UConn, I know, but Paige Bueckers is still there. I think she’s going to be the biggest story next year,” Goodman explained to Staples. “I think she’ll compete with Juju [Watkins] for that top spot in media coverage just because of her story, the injury she’s had to face, what she’s been going through and the real chance that they have to win a title next year.”

Bueckers has been a mainstay in women’s college basketball since the 2020 season. As Goodman mentioned, injuries have sidelined for a healthy chunk of her college career as Caitlin Clark emerged as a generational talent in her absence.

Meanwhile, Watkins has been holding it down on the west coast, wowing fans in late-night with her scoring prowess for the USC Trojans. She finished her true freshman year as the nation’s second-leading scorer behind Clark with 27.1 points per game.

The stars don’t stop there, as several up-and-coming talents had caught the eye of Goodman before the season ended.

“Then, if you go to the younger players on the come up, obviously there’s Hannah Hidalgo for Notre Dame, who’s incredible,” Goodman continued. “I mean, led the country in steals last year and is just such a fun player to watch. And then Audi Crooks is another — she was a freshman last year and she is just awesome. She was my favorite player to watch last year and she’s so much fun.

“She’s only going to get better from here and they have another [freshman] in Addy Brown over there too, who’s another great freshman. So there there is no shortage of really, really exciting and fun players to watch in woman’s college basketball next year.”

Crooks and Brown helped lead Iowa State to a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, eventually falling to 2-seeded Stanford in the second round. For Hidalgo, she caught the ACC by storm with her 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game as a true freshman, leading Notre Dame to the Sweet 16 as a 2-seed.