Who’s the subsequent star in girls’s faculty basketball?
This previous season’s rookie class supplied just a few attainable solutions.
Whereas many of the eyeballs on the game had been glued — and for good purpose — to the likes of USC’s JuJu Watkins, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, there have been just a few freshmen that stood out and helped their groups attain new heights. A few of them simply began to scratch the floor on what their potentials could possibly be, whereas others piled up accolades, produced eye-popping stats or helped their squads win huge.
Michigan is an instance of a workforce with a extremely vibrant future because it had three standout rookies this previous season — Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mia Holloway — all of whom will probably be again for the Wolverines as sophomores. Collectively, the trio averaged 42.1 factors, 14.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists per sport.
Others, like Gal Raviv, gained’t be returning to the college the place they spent their rookie season. After averaging 17.9 factors, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists at Quinnipiac this yr, the 5-foot-9 guard from Israel will check her expertise within the ACC after transferring to Miami.
As we barrel towards the 2025-26 season, let’s mirror on what a handful of gamers achieved as rookies and take into consideration what they may have the ability to do subsequent.
These are the sophomores you might want to take note of heading into subsequent season.
Kourtney Grossman, Jap Washington
Amongst all freshmen throughout the nation final season, Grossman was the one one to common a double-double, posting 10.5 factors and 10.8 rebounds per sport. She was fifth nationally in defensive rebounding, grabbing 8.5 of the opposite workforce’s misses per sport. For her efforts, the 6-foot-1 ahead from Billings, Montana, was named Massive Sky Freshman of the Yr. Jap Washington completed with only a 9-20 file, however Grossman seems to be like a participant this system can construct round for years to return.
Kiyomi McMiller, Penn State
McMiller entered faculty with a ton of hype, ranked as a five-star prospect and one of many high 30 gamers within the 2024 class by ESPN. She was a Jordan Model All-American and flashed a few of her potential as a rookie at Rutgers, notching three double-doubles and scoring 25 factors or extra in a single sport six instances. However a mid-season suspension turned McMiller’s freshman season right into a rocky one. She entered the switch portal with suitors from a number of main applications and finally ended up at Penn State. The Nittany Lions went 10-19 final season and gained only one sport in Massive Ten play. They’re hoping McMiller will make them many extra victories.
Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova
The 5-foot-7 Canadian guard was probably the greatest freshmen within the Massive East this previous season and helped energy Villanova to an look within the WBIT semifinals. Bascoe was considered one of simply two freshmen nationally who made at the very least 2.5 free throws per sport and shot north of 85 p.c from the charity stripe for the season. She averaged 16.2 factors, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per sport for the Wildcats, doing a bit little bit of every thing fairly properly.
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State
A 5-foot-7 guard from Nashville, Tennessee, Cambridge began in all 29 video games she performed on this previous season for the Buckeyes, averaging 15.4 factors, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and a pair of.1 steals per sport. She was named co-Massive Ten Freshman of the Yr and had a handful of standout performances, like when she tallied 33 factors and 5 assists in a February win over Michigan State.
Allie Turner, Gonzaga
Named an honorable point out All-American by the WBCA, there have been few shooters pretty much as good as Turner this previous season. She led all freshmen — and was eleventh nationally — in 3-pointers made per sport with 3.0. Her 45.7 p.c success fee from behind the arc was seventeenth nationally, and he or she additionally averaged 3.3 rebounds and three.6 assists per sport. With Turner’s assist, Gonzaga made the quarterfinals of the WBIT.
Delaney Gibb, BYU
The Massive 12 Freshman of the Yr did every thing for the Cougars this previous season, averaging 17.4 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per sport whereas taking pictures 39.5 p.c from behind the arc. A 5-foot-10 guard from Canada, Gibb will probably be a participant BYU can construct round for the subsequent few seasons.
Toby Fournier, Duke
The 6-foot-2 Canadian ahead — well-known for her viral dunking highlights on social media — helped the Blue Devils win the ACC Match and advance to the Elite Eight for the primary time since 2013 this previous season. She was named ACC Rookie of the Yr whereas averaging 13.2 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per sport. Fournier additionally shot 52.6 p.c from the ground and ranked thirty fourth nationally in PER.
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
The winner of the USBWA’s Tamika Catchings Award for the nation’s greatest freshman, Blakes was completely field workplace this season and put Vanderbilt on the map. She led all freshmen — and was eighth nationally amongst all gamers — in scoring this season with 23.3 factors per sport. Since 2009, Blakes is the one participant to attain 50 factors in a sport twice as a freshman. With Blakes main the best way, the Commodores count on to be contending on the high of the SEC for the subsequent few seasons.
Sarah Robust, UConn
Nevermind the freshman designation — Robust was probably the greatest gamers within the nation this season and a serious purpose why UConn was in a position to beat South Carolina and win its twelfth nationwide championship. Tabbed as the very best recruit within the 2024 class, Robust lived as much as the hype by averaging 16.4 factors, 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per sport. In any given sport, Robust could possibly be UConn’s greatest scorer, rebounder, passer and defender.
A whole package deal of a participant, Robust ranked third within the nation in taking pictures share contained in the arc, making 68.3 p.c of her photographs from 2-point vary. She additionally led the nation in win shares (9.3) and defensive ranking (64.9). With Robust within the lineup, the Huskies count on to compete for a nationwide championship once more.