Last spring, there were five head coaches in their first seasons of leading a program that made the NCAA Tournament.
Jan Jensen got Iowa the second round after taking the reins from Lisa Bluder. Following Karl Smesko’s departure for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, Chelsea Lyles kept Florida Gulf Coast dancing. Likewise, Gavin Petersen got Utah into March Madness after taking over in November for Lynne Roberts. Kayla Karius took Green Bay dancing in her first season, and Kim Caldwell powered a new-look Tennessee all the way to the Sweet 16.
These days in college sports, it’s a bit easier for a coach to put their own impression and mark on a roster and rebuild a team in their image. Thanks to the transfer portal, players that fit a coach’s style can be found quickly.
Ahead of the 2025-26 season, a handful of coaches have set themselves up to have success in their first campaign. One that stands out is Lee Cummard at BYU, who brings back Big 12 Rookie of the Year Delaney Gibb and also gets 3-point sharpshooter Kailey Woolston back on the roster after a year off for an LDS mission trip.
Larry Vickers combed the transfer portal to build what looks to be a quality first-year roster at Auburn, and expectations will be high for coaches like Winston Gandy and Raina Harmon, who take over the reins of mid-major powers at Grand Canyon and FGCU, respectively.
But among all the head coaches entering the 2025-26 season in a new job, Arizona State’s Molly Miller might have the most impressive roster.
Miller’s bonafides as a head coach are well established. In five seasons at Grand Canyon, she had a 117-38 record, winning 75.5 percent of her games. Before that, she won 91 percent of her games over six seasons at Division II Drury and took the Panthers to the Final Four in 2019.
It was this success that made Miller arguably the most sought-after coaching candidate on the market last spring, as she drew heavy interest from multiple Power 4 programs, including a handful in the SEC.
Now, Miller makes the leap into the Power 4 at Arizona State, which won 10 games last season. Miller overhauled this roster, bringing back just one starter and three other returners from last year’s team. The returning starter is Jyah LoVett, a guard with a career 36.7 shooting percentage from 3-point land.
The additions to the roster include Deborah Davenport, who was a starter in all 34 games for a Northwest Florida State College team that won its second straight JUCO national title last season. McKinna Brackens comes over after averaging 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for UNLV last season, and Jordan Jones joins the Sun Devils after averaging 19.8 points per game and setting Denver’s single-season scoring record. Jones was also fifth in the nation in free throws made per game last season.
Additionally, Acacia Hayes averaged double figures in scoring in each of the past three seasons for Western Kentucky.
Some Power 4 players are here too, including the well-traveled Gabby Elliott, who has started in games for Clemson, Michigan State and Penn State throughout her career. Marley Washenitz comes to Arizona State after starting in 78 games for Pitt over the past three seasons, and it’s quite possible that no player improved more as a 3-point shooter over the past year than her. She shot 12.8 percent from deep as a sophomore, then jumped to 35 percent as a junior, knocking down 1.3 threes per game.
Heloisa Carrera of Ole Miss is here too, and so is LSU veteran Last-Tear Poa. While she didn’t pile up eye-popping stats for the Tigers as they won a national championship and advanced to two Elite Eights, Poa featured in 102 games for Kim Mulkey’s side and started in 27 of them. She provided the Tigers with sharp passing and a versatile defensive presence and should do the same for the Sun Devils. In LSU’s national title win over Iowa in 2023, Poa knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and drew two charges on Caitlin Clark.
Freshman Amaya Williams, who was a team captain at the California powerhouse Mater Dei, could be a rookie to watch too.
Among the few returners, Jyah LoVett should help the Sun Devils too after starting in 21 games as a sophomore last season. She averaged 8.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the floor and 35.2 percent from 3-point land.
Four players on this Arizona State roster — LoVett, Moore, Elliott and Washenitz — each shot better than 35 percent from 3-point range last season. Finding success in shooting from behind the arc was something that Miller’s Grand Canyon’s teams did well, as the Lopes were 13th nationally in 3-point shooting last season with a collective 36.8 percent mark.
Miller has assembled a roster that should help Arizona State compete in the Big 12 right away. The Sun Devils haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2019, but this team might have what it takes to end that drought.
