24-25 Preseason Rankings
- Thread starter Vowelguy
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Emsbo for Duke has no more eligibility
bballnut90
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1. South Carolina-clear favorite entering next year with everyone besides Cardoso back plus another really good recruiting class.
2. UCONN-they have one of the deepest rosters in the country, health is the main concern but they're loaded once again.
3. Texas-everyone but Gonzales is back and they bring in 2 top 10 recruits and have Harmon back.
4. LSU-I think less will be more for them next season. The trio of Flau'jae, Morrow and Williams is elite, and I see Smith fitting in extremely well inside.
5. UCLA-I think Rice/Betts take their games to the next level in 2024-25. Good supporting cast and they'll be more experienced.
6. Notre Dame-everyone is back, they lack size though and I think it'll take time to figure out the Hidalgo/Miles chemistry in the backcourt since both are so ball dominant.
7. Oregon State-I'm concerned they're going to lose a lot of talent to the portal. von Oelhoffen is a major loss but they could still impress.
8. USC-Juju is back, they have a nice recruiting class too.
I think there'll still be quite a bit of parity in #2-#8. You could make an argument for any of these teams to be in the top 5. All have proven star power returning and had very successful 2023-24 seasons.
I agree with the 9-15 picks of Duke/NC State/Iowa State/Stanford/Ohio State/Oklahoma/Kansas State. All of those squads have big question marks but nice potential:
-Duke needs to find offense
-NC State is replacing their posts
-Can Iowa State's young roster get to the next level with one last year of Emily Ryan?
-Who will step up for Stanford to help Iriafen?
-Ohio State loses a lot to graduation
-Oklahoma won the Big 12, but were the ever legit?
-Will Ayoka Lee get help at Kansas State?
All of that said, I don't think anyone expected South Carolina to be undefeated this year, NC State to be a Final Four team, or for USC to be a #1 seed. I hope we continue to get more unexpected results like we saw this year.
2. UCONN-they have one of the deepest rosters in the country, health is the main concern but they're loaded once again.
3. Texas-everyone but Gonzales is back and they bring in 2 top 10 recruits and have Harmon back.
4. LSU-I think less will be more for them next season. The trio of Flau'jae, Morrow and Williams is elite, and I see Smith fitting in extremely well inside.
5. UCLA-I think Rice/Betts take their games to the next level in 2024-25. Good supporting cast and they'll be more experienced.
6. Notre Dame-everyone is back, they lack size though and I think it'll take time to figure out the Hidalgo/Miles chemistry in the backcourt since both are so ball dominant.
7. Oregon State-I'm concerned they're going to lose a lot of talent to the portal. von Oelhoffen is a major loss but they could still impress.
8. USC-Juju is back, they have a nice recruiting class too.
I think there'll still be quite a bit of parity in #2-#8. You could make an argument for any of these teams to be in the top 5. All have proven star power returning and had very successful 2023-24 seasons.
I agree with the 9-15 picks of Duke/NC State/Iowa State/Stanford/Ohio State/Oklahoma/Kansas State. All of those squads have big question marks but nice potential:
-Duke needs to find offense
-NC State is replacing their posts
-Can Iowa State's young roster get to the next level with one last year of Emily Ryan?
-Who will step up for Stanford to help Iriafen?
-Ohio State loses a lot to graduation
-Oklahoma won the Big 12, but were the ever legit?
-Will Ayoka Lee get help at Kansas State?
All of that said, I don't think anyone expected South Carolina to be undefeated this year, NC State to be a Final Four team, or for USC to be a #1 seed. I hope we continue to get more unexpected results like we saw this year.
southie
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I think LSU will definitely be Top 10 once the portal movement has finalized.
But, as of today, they have a very limited returning roster, and no 2024 signees, correct? Flaujae, Williams, and Morrow are for sure starters. Everyone else is unproven.
But, as of today, they have a very limited returning roster, and no 2024 signees, correct? Flaujae, Williams, and Morrow are for sure starters. Everyone else is unproven.
triaddukefan
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Dejesus is returning for Duke.
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I think they (LSU) have one 2024 signee--a Top 100 player out of Louisiana (a PG).
If they can grab a PG (DeeDee Hagemann?) and a forward (maybe Grace Van Slooten) in the portal, then they're going to be pretty good. Redus does a good job of working the portal in LSU's favor.
If they can grab a PG (DeeDee Hagemann?) and a forward (maybe Grace Van Slooten) in the portal, then they're going to be pretty good. Redus does a good job of working the portal in LSU's favor.
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They get Smyah smith back and added Wolfenbarger transfer. That alone is a decent 5.
southie
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But, neither is a PG or Center, right? I'm trying to project their starting five.
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The Roster Outlook: Kim Mulkey, LSU Gearing Up For Important Offseason in Baton Rouge
Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith depart the program, Mulkey and Co. looking to add new faces.
southie
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The Roster Outlook: Kim Mulkey, LSU Gearing Up For Important Offseason in Baton Rouge
Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith depart the program, Mulkey and Co. looking to add new faces.www.si.com
Thanks. That has some good tidbits.
I can't tell if the writer was getting Morrow and Smith confused. If they really believe Smith is a starter over Morrow next season I'm not sure what to say . . .
bballnut90
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I mean, that's about as good of a trio as you'll find in women's college basketball. Flau'jae was playing at an All American level to finish the year, Morrow is a lottery pick next year and Williams had an excellent freshman season despite getting overlooked compared to other standouts. Smith's recovery will be important and I'd look for more development out of Del Rosario. Poa isn't spectacular but is a great defender and capable guard. My guess for a starting 5 is Poa/Williams/Johnson/Morrow/Smith. They'll need to pick up 1-2 portal players and wont have a ton of depth (similar to this year) but their starting 5 will be as athletic as any team's.
triaddukefan
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I'm pretty sure our offense will be improved. Our defense might not be as good though.
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I would put UConn in the 9-15 range. Too much is a mystery with them. Ice is the only semi known entity in the front court. The backcourt is thin outside of question marks returning from injury and freshman. Maybe they’ll be good but also maybe they won’t. Who knows!
You are kidding right? This team made the final four this year with basically playing the starters all forty minutes in EVERY game for the last two months of season. Now we will have a full roster with the nations best player (Paige coming back) and the nations best recruit (Sarah coming in). I think it might take a little bit of time to get all of the pieces figured out but Paige is going to make everyone around her better and the team should progress quickly but say they are only a top 9-15 is ludicrous.
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If we are just thinking preseason I just think there are too many question marks. Who’s gonna be available? How will they recover? How good are the freshman? Like no idea here! Sure the ceiling might be high but the floor is very low as well.
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A month ago I had thought UConn would be lower but then the F4 run, Paige’s performance, and Strong’s commitment pushed them higher for me.
I also think that 2-11 is pretty tightly bunched.
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Yea I wouldn’t be mad with them starting out unranked but the name of the program still holds too much weight.
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UConn will undoubtedly have one of the best, if not the best, group of guards next season. I don't think anyone questions that. Edwards is going to leave a huge hole and I haven't seen anyone really show that spark to anchor the paint when she leaves. Ice Brady and Sarah Strong seem like great players but they don't seem like your run-of-the-mill back to the basket type of post players. So there is a very big question mark with that team next season. I don't really see any good rum protectors on defense, either. Griffin is probably the best you got and she is undersized and getting back healthy.
UConnCat
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I wouldn't take what this poster says seriously.
In April of 2023 the poster had UConn preseason #1 and then a month later dropped UConn to the #10-15 range because Aaliyah Edwards was with Team Canada and not in Storrs for summer workouts. Then, after Aaliyah Edwards made it to Storrs (she missed 1 week with the team) this poster improved UConn's preseason ranking to #9-16.
Also said Paige wouldn't be close to freshman year Paige until summer 2024. There is still hope.
Espn preseason UConn number 1
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/36044329/womens-college-basketball-way-too-early-top-25-2023-24
Bueckers, Arnold, Shade, Fudd, Samuels, Ziebell, Cheli = thin backcourt.
Again, not to be taken seriously.
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[/
Edit
Duke 2 schol left with de Jesus return
ND with 8 schol following Branford transfer
Edit
Duke 2 schol left with de Jesus return
ND with 8 schol following Branford transfer
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I was right about most of that though. Even Paige took until March of 2024 to really step up. You may not like it but I was right.I wouldn't take what this poster says seriously.
In April of 2023 the poster had UConn preseason #1 and then a month later dropped UConn to the #10-15 range because Aaliyah Edwards was with Team Canada and not in Storrs for summer workouts. Then, after Aaliyah Edwards made it to Storrs (she missed 1 week with the team) this poster improved UConn's preseason ranking to #9-16.
Also said Paige wouldn't be close to freshman year Paige until summer 2024. There is still hope.
Espn preseason UConn number 1
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/36044329/womens-college-basketball-way-too-early-top-25-2023-24the-boneyard.com
Bueckers, Arnold, Shade, Fudd, Samuels, Ziebell, Cheli = thin backcourt.
Again, not to be taken seriously.
UConnCat
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Actually, you weren't right. You were all over the place. Your various preseason rankings (from #1 to #9-16) were before the team lost Caroline, Yana, Azzi and Aubrey. The team made it to the final four.
Paige was an All-American.