The start of the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season is still about four months away, but it’s never too early to begin speculating on who the best players in the sport might be.
It seems unlikely that we will see a repeat National Player of the Year award winner, considering that USC’s JuJu Watkins — who won the Naismith, Wooden, the USBWA and the AP award — tore her ACL in the NCAA Tournament. Typically, recovery from an injury like that tends to take several months, meaning Watkins will likely be sidelined for most of, if not all, the upcoming season. The other National Player of the Year award, the Wade Trophy presented by the WBCA, went to UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who is now balling out in the WNBA for the Dallas Wings.
With that, let’s forecast which players are primed for record-breaking seasons and dominant campaigns, and which ones will be in a position to pile up stats and lead their teams deep into the postseason.
These are the players to watch for the National Player of the Year…
Olivia Miles, TCU
After recovering from her own ACL tear, Miles returned to Notre Dame last season and looked like an improved player. In addition to her superb passing and fearless playmaking abilities, Miles reached new heights as a 3-point shooter, increasing her success rate from behind the arc by 18 percentage points. In addition to shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point land, she averaged 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game before the Fighting Irish’s season flamed out in the Sweet 16. Miles has since transferred to TCU where she’ll work with Mark Campbell, who has gotten the best out of guards like Hailey Van Lith and Sabrina Ionescu. A step forward for Miles and TCU contending for supremacy in the Big 12 again would put her in the Player of the Year conversation.
Lauren Betts, UCLA
There was a time last season, as UCLA started the season 23-0, when the 6-foot-7 Betts looked like the frontrunner for the National Player of the Year. But with a handful of impressive performances in the last month of the season — which included two wins over the Bruins — Watkins overtook her in the race. Still, Betts had an incredible junior season and was tabbed a First Team All-American and the WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year. She averaged 20.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 64.8 percent from the floor as she powered UCLA to its first-ever Final Four appearance. Because of her combination of size and skill, Betts is considered by many to be the best player available in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
The wicked quick guard from New Jersey had another awesome two-way season for Notre Dame as she ranked fifth nationally in scoring and fourth nationally in steals. She and West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly were the only players in the nation to average north of 20 points and three steals per game. Hidalgo was named ACC Player of the Year and earned a First Team All-American nod. While Hidalgo’s stats can be a bit eye-popping, she might be asked to do even more for Notre Dame this season. Much of last year’s squad is gone, with Miles and Kate Koval transferring and other starters in Maddy Westbeld, Liatu King and Sonia Citron off to the pros. Hidalgo is going to have to have her best season yet if Notre Dame aims to keep contending in the ACC.
Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina
At Florida State last season, Latson led the nation in scoring with 25.2 points per game and earned a spot on the All-American Second Team. But at Florida State, she flew under the radar a bit as the Seminoles never made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in Latson’s first three seasons there, despite her being an All-ACC First Team player. Now, for her final season, Latson reunites with high school teammate Raven Johnson and joins Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks, who have been to five consecutive Final Fours and won a pair of national titles in that stretch. What Latson’s stats look like this season will be worth watching though. While she’s a dynamic and talented scorer, Staley hasn’t had a player average more than 17 points per game since A’ja Wilson’s senior season in 2017-18. Since then, South Carolina plays a defensive-first style with a varied offensive attack that hasn’t ever really relied on a singular go-to scorer, which is the role Latson has been in with FSU. If Latson can find a way to thrive in Staley’s system while still being an efficient and effective scorer, she’ll garner plenty of spotlight to be in the Player of the Year conversation.
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
The 5-foot-8 guard put the SEC on notice this past season and was voted as the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year by the USBWA. Blakes is the only freshman since at least 2009 to score more than 50 points twice in a single season. The second time she did it, pouring in 55 points in a win over Auburn, set an NCAA single-game scoring record by a freshman. Her 23.3 points per game were eighth-best nationally and she was named to the All-SEC First Team. As Vanderbilt eyes its third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, Blakes could have to carry even more of the scoring load for the Commodores this season now that running mate Khamil Pierre is off the team.
Sarah Strong, UConn
While Bueckers won the Wade Trophy and Azzi Fudd was named Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four, a case could be made that Sarah Strong was UConn’s best player last season. Tabbed as the best recruit in the 2024 class, Strong lived up to the hype by averaging 16.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. A complete package of a player, Strong ranked third in the nation in shooting percentage inside the arc, making 68.3 percent of her shots from 2-point range. She also led the nation in win shares (9.3) and defensive rating (64.9). Strong was a big reason why Geno Auriemma was able to win his 12th national championship, and she’ll be the bus driver for a UConn team that expects to contend again this upcoming season.
