1/3 of the season awards/predictions

[bballnut90]

Individual Awards:
POY: Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
COY: Mark Campbell, TCU
FOY: Sarah Strong, UCONN

1st Team All Americans (in order):
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Lauren Betts, UCLA
Paige Bueckers, UCONN
Juju Watkins, USC
Flaujae Johnson, LSU


2nd Team All Americans:
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Madison Booker, Texas
Sedona Prince, TCU
Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
Khamil Pierre, Vanderbilt


3rd Team All Americans:
Taniya Latson, Florida State
Sarah Strong, UCONN
Kiki Iriafen, USC
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
Hailey Van Lith, TCU




High HM:
Aneesah Morrow, LSU
Cotie McMahon, Ohio State
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Deyona Gaston, Auburn
Audi Crooks, Iowa State
Kiyomi McMiller, Rutgers
Lucy Olsen, Iowa


All Freshmen Team:
Sarah Strong, UCONN
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Kiyomi McMiller, Rutgers
Syla Swords, Michigan
Olivia Olson, Michigan
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State





Made this list relatively quickly so if I missed any big names add them in. I know I completely omitted South Carolina but statistically they're so balanced that no one has a strong claim for individual honors right now.

Tournament/Conference Predictions:

SEC Champion: South Carolina
Big 12 Champion: TCU
ACC Champion: Notre Dame
B1G Champion: UCLA
Big East Champion: UCONN

#1 Seeds: South Carolina, UCLA, Notre Dame, Texas

Champion Pick: South Carolina

 

[jdote33]

Individual Awards:
POY: Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
COY: Mark Campbell, TCU
FOY: Sarah Strong, UCONN

1st Team All Americans (in order):
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Lauren Betts, UCLA
Paige Bueckers, UCONN
Juju Watkins, USC
Flaujae Johnson, LSU


2nd Team All Americans:
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Madison Booker, Texas
Sedona Prince, TCU
Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
Khamil Pierre, Vanderbilt


3rd Team All Americans:
Taniya Latson, Florida State
Sarah Strong, UCONN
Kiki Iriafen, USC
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
Hailey Van Lith, TCU




High HM:
Aneesah Morrow, LSU
Cotie McMahon, Ohio State
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Deyona Gaston, Auburn
Audi Crooks, Iowa State
Kiyomi McMiller, Rutgers
Lucy Olsen, Iowa


All Freshmen Team:
Sarah Strong, UCONN
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Kiyomi McMiller, Rutgers
Syla Swords, Michigan
Olivia Olson, Michigan
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State





Made this list relatively quickly so if I missed any big names add them in. I know I completely omitted South Carolina but statistically they're so balanced that no one has a strong claim for individual honors right now.

Tournament/Conference Predictions:

SEC Champion: South Carolina
Big 12 Champion: TCU
ACC Champion: Notre Dame
B1G Champion: UCLA
Big East Champion: UCONN

#1 Seeds: South Carolina, UCLA, Notre Dame, Texas

Champion Pick: South Carolina

Really liked this. I agree on a lot of it. When I looked at the all freshman team it put into perspective how good this freshman class is. I was wondering where Toby Fournier was but didn't feel 100 percent comfortable taking anyone out. I also think Delaney Gibbs from BYU could be on that list. She's really fun to watch.
I'm not as confident in TCU. I actually think the Big 12 is sneaky good. There aren't too many easy games in that conference so I'm interested to see how they fare in conference play. If they do how well I think they'll do my coach of the year will be Cori Close. I think they'll lose like 1 game if that heading into the tournament.
Lastly I know life isn't fair but I feel like Taniya Latson is the most slept on superstar in the women's game. I think she'll have ample opportunity to show out and make a name for herself but her stats are ridiculous. Id probably have her first team ahead of flau jae but I hope she gets in the poy convo.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

I agree with your picks for the most part. Although my COY right now would be Nell Fortner. Georgia Tech has really come from being preseason ranked as a bottom half ACC team to currently ranked a top 15 team with a decent non-con.

 

[Dillon77]

I agree with your picks for the most part. Although my COY right now would be Nell Fortner. Georgia Tech has really come from being preseason ranked as a bottom half ACC team to currently ranked a top 15 team with a decent non-con.

@bballnut90

Need to ponder a bit on the player side, but most of the picks look (very) reasonable.
Want to see how certain players continue/step up in conference play, such as Liatu King of ND and Madison Connor or TCU.

As for coaches, that's where I want to see how teams that have jumped out to excellent OOC records (TCU, GT, Michigan State, Vandy) perform in the internecine battles of conference play.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I agree with your picks for the most part. Although my COY right now would be Nell Fortner. Georgia Tech has really come from being preseason ranked as a bottom half ACC team to currently ranked a top 15 team with a decent non-con.

Also 2-0 in the ACC with the first win coming at ranked UNC (who's actually pretty good). I am impressed!

 

[Bone Dog]

After watching the UCLA Michigan game today, I’d say UCLA must be the prohibitive favorite to win the NC. Michigan played them tough, which speaks well for their freshmen. But something about the way UCLA was able to extend the lead in bunches whenever it got close made me think of them as winners.

SC looks like the closest to them in terms of talent. And I would never underestimate Cori’s ability to underperform in a tournament. But that’s a different sort of consideration.

Below these I’d put ND, on the assumption that Maddy comes back strong. And then Texas USC LSU NC St and UConn in no particular order. ND and UConn are waiting for players to return and return to form, so it’s not so easy to tell how to place them. They could both overperform or falter. As a Husky fan, I focus on the upside for UConn. But ND has some serious upside too and appears to be closer to their best form.

 

[triaddukefan]

After watching the UCLA Michigan game today, I’d say UCLA must be the prohibitive favorite to win the NC. Michigan played them tough, which speaks well for their freshmen. But something about the way UCLA was able to extend the lead in bunches whenever it got close made me think of them as winners.

SC looks like the closest to them in terms of talent. And I would never underestimate Cori’s ability to underperform in a tournament. But that’s a different sort of consideration.

Below these I’d put ND, on the assumption that Maddy comes back strong. And then Texas USC LSU NC St and UConn in no particular order. ND and UConn are waiting for players to return and return to form, so it’s not so easy to tell how to place them. They could both overperform or falter. As a Husky fan, I focus on the upside for UConn. But ND has some serious upside too and appears to be closer to their best form.

Is that NC State, or NC and Stanford?

 

[GoChips20]

Barring injury or Notre Dame failing to finish first in the ACC (doubtful given the composition of the league IMO), I don’t see how POY can be anyone but Hidalgo. She’s got a claim as both the best offensive and defensive player in the country and has statistically outdueled her biggest competition (Bueckers, Watkins, and throw Booker in there) while going 3-0 in those games. At this point Notre Dame looks like a near lock for a #1 seed with Maddy Westbeld returning soon and only UCLA and possibly South Carolina ahead in line.

COY is a congested race with Campbell, Nell Fortner, Kim Caldwell, Brenda Frese, and Cori Close. I’m inclined to go Fortner given GT’s turnaround from missing the postseason to being undefeated and in the mix for hosting. I personally believe Tennessee is a top ten-caliber team but can understand if people need to see more to push Caldwell yet.

For me the bigger question about Sarah Strong is not whether she’s FOY and is instead whether she’d go top three in the draft if eligible tomorrow. My vote is yes. Don’t know that I’ve ever seen a freshman forward play like such a veteran.

I wish there was a national Most Improved award although this year Khamil Pierre would have taken the air out of that conversation.

Overall, it’s been a really fun season to start. Right now I think we’re on a collision course for a UCLA-Notre Dame title game which I’d love to see, but you can’t count out any of USC, UConn, SC, Texas, or LSU.

#1 Seed Predictions (in order): UCLA, ND, SC, Texas

Final Four Predictions: UCLA, ND, SC, UConn

Title Game Prediction: ND over UCLA

 

[Stagnant]

I would pick Kansas State to win the big 12.

 

[Dillon77]

Barring injury or Notre Dame failing to finish first in the ACC (doubtful given the composition of the league IMO), I don’t see how POY can be anyone but Hidalgo. She’s got a claim as both the best offensive and defensive player in the country and has statistically outdueled her biggest competition (Bueckers, Watkins, and throw Booker in there) while going 3-0 in those games. At this point Notre Dame looks like a near lock for a #1 seed with Maddy Westbeld returning soon and only UCLA and possibly South Carolina ahead in line.

COY is a congested race with Campbell, Nell Fortner, Kim Caldwell, Brenda Frese, and Cori Close. I’m inclined to go Fortner given GT’s turnaround from missing the postseason to being undefeated and in the mix for hosting. I personally believe Tennessee is a top ten-caliber team but can understand if people need to see more to push Caldwell yet.

For me the bigger question about Sarah Strong is not whether she’s FOY and is instead whether she’d go top three in the draft if eligible tomorrow. My vote is yes. Don’t know that I’ve ever seen a freshman forward play like such a veteran.

I wish there was a national Most Improved award although this year Khamil Pierre would have taken the air out of that conversation.

Overall, it’s been a really fun season to start. Right now I think we’re on a collision course for a UCLA-Notre Dame title game which I’d love to see, but you can’t count out any of USC, UConn, SC, Texas, or LSU.

#1 Seed Predictions (in order): UCLA, ND, SC, Texas

Final Four Predictions: UCLA, ND, SC, UConn

Title Game Prediction: ND over UCLA

Interesting, well-reasoned summary (and not just because of who your projected Title Game Winner is...)
Regarding that, the Irish are playing very well as it is, but if Maddy Westbeld comes back soon enough to mesh into the overall flow while delivering her specific brand of talents (three-level scoring, passing, rebounding), the Irish will get a kick-start.
She's practicing on a daily basis now, so that should be soon.

Regarding your Final Four predictions, I think UConn would benefit from a forward coming back, as well: Aubrey Griffin.
She can be the aggressive paint presence that I think UConn isn't quite getting on a consistent basis right now. Strong could use the help.

Strong is obviously both exceedingly talented and very composed. It will be fascinating to see UConn next year centered around somebody other than Paige Bueckers (who was pretty darn composed herself).

I hadn't realized Khamil Pierre of Vandy had improved her scoring that much from her frosh year. Her teammate, Mikayla Blakes, averaging around 20 ppg, would probably be on a number of freshman teams if the season ended right now. BWT, big game today for Vandy: Kentucky comes to town for a mid-afternoon tilt on SEC+.

 

[visitingcock]

6th Man of the Year: South Carolina Roster

 

[Bone Dog]

Right now, I’m betting on ND to win it all. With Westbeld back and if she’s back to pre-injury form, I don’t see how SC or UCLA can really run with them. As a UConn fan, of course I’m holding out hope for more of Paige’s magic. But just looking at where the teams are right now and where they’re likely to be in two months, ND looks like a lock to me. The odd thing is that on paper, UCLA and SC look like they have a better shot. But neither of them has a backcourt that can run with Miles Hidalgo and Citron. And Westbeld, Koval, King and Karlen look to be sturdy enough to stand up to anyone.

As for CoY, I‘d nominate Niele.

 

[bbsamjj]

A few other players that could definitely be in the High HM category, if not third team at some point:

Kiki Rice (shooting an absurd 56% from field)
Ayoka Lee, Kansas St
Rori Harmon, TX
Aziaha James, NC St
K. Smilke, MD, currently shooting 50/40/85
JJ Quinerly, WV

Also, kind of seems absurd to not have anyone from SC on, though that's how they play. Maybe Paopao makes it somewhere.

 

[TC22]

SC will have some players emerge as AA candidates by the end of the year is my prediction. That bench will get shorter as the quality of competition ramps up. My 2 candidates are Pao Pao and Fulwiley. They are both starting to heat up.

 

[Darwin]

Joyce Edwards will be on the Freshman All American team.

 

[bballnut90]

6th Man of the Year: South Carolina Roster

Lol seriously. Their top 4 off the bench all have WNBA lottery potential IMO (Watkins, Tessa Johnson, Fulwiley and Edwards)

 

[bballnut90]

SC will have some players emerge as AA candidates by the end of the year is my prediction. That bench will get shorter as the quality of competition ramps up. My 2 candidates are Pao Pao and Fulwiley. They are both starting to heat up.

I still think they’ll go solidly 9-10 deep. Dawn likely isn’t switching her starting lineup and Tessa Johnson, Fulwiley, Watkins and Edwards will all likely be playing 20+ minutes per game against good opponents. I could see voters putting Pao Pao on 2nd or 3rd team as the SC rep even though her numbers are lower than most other AAs.

Historically a lot of UCONN players earned AA honors during dominant seasons without good individual stats due to team success and eye test. I’d expect SC to get similar treatment considering how they’ve dominated the last 4-5 years and can’t see them finishing without anyone on an AA team if they finish with just a couple of losses