AP All-America teams announced!

[bballnut90]

the BY should do a better job spelling names, but some kind of executive action is needed to rein in the endless proliferation of variants on Caitlin/Caitlyn/Katelyn/Kaitlin/Kaitlyn/Katelin.... It's gotten WAY out of hand

I recall a friend told me she had 5 Caitlins in her class, all spelling their name differently.

 

[packwrap]

I recall a friend told me she had 5 Caitlins in her class, all spelling their name differently.

Good think her last name is the nice and simple Klarque.

 

[From France]

 

[Forego]

the BY should do a better job spelling names, but some kind of executive action is needed to rein in the endless proliferation of variants on Caitlin/Caitlyn/Katelyn/Kaitlin/Kaitlyn/Katelin.... It's gotten WAY out of hand

The simple solution is to just change the names of the players whose names sound alike but are spelled differently. For example if you have two players with similar names, rename one of them Polly and the other one Stewie.

 

[Zarathustra]

I appreciate your time spent on this DefenseBB, but it's not all about WinShares. I saw her play only in an early-season game vs. Iowa, but how do you compare WinShares for Dinnebier to Paige, Hannah or JuJu?

I would definitely agree Morrow should be 1st team, and not Booker.

Congrats to Paige and Sarah!

I agree with MORROW > Booker. Perhaps Aneesah Morrow will
win the HOOP HALL Awards Naismith voting for Power Forward and
this will ?? balance out. NOTE: the voting is STILL open at
HOOPHALLAWARDS for the 5 players remaining at each position: Paige for Point Guard and Sarah for Small Forward. I VOTED THIS MORNING! (3/20/2025)

 

[oldude]

I note the USBWA AA team was also announced yesterday:

1st Team
Paige
Hidalgo
Watkins
Betts
Morrow

2nd Team
Amore
Booker
Miles
Blakes
Latson

3rd Team
Sarah
Iriafen
Van Lith
Johnson (LSU)
Crooks

I like Morrow over Booker on the 1st team: She’s a beast and the best rebounder in the nation.

For UConn fans, with all the other AA teams now posted, we’re waiting on the WBCA AA team which comes out in another week or so, hoping that Sarah earns 1 of 10 first team selections. Such an honor, along with her UConn degree, will have her name up forever as a HOH.

 

[Geew1992]

Can you prove Betts wouldn't have become an AA at Stanford if she stayed?

Also, UCLA has had AA before. I don't know if you meant 1st team specifically. Michaela Onyenwere, Jordin Canada and Maylana Martin have all made AP AA teams, although none 1st team it appears.

Going back in history, Ann Meyers was a 4 time WBCA All American and Denise Curry was 3 time. Maylana Martina and Natalie Williams also made WBCA AA teams.

Not proof but i read an article about how UCLA got Lauren to love basketball again

 

[Rowdy831]

A lot of great players for a small number of slots. Paige and Sarah both overcame playing very limited 4th quarter minutes earning the stats they had. Juju to me is the most over rated of the group and Booker seems to get a lot of attention for her play compared to the likes of Morrow. With that said it is very hard to chose and many great ones made it and many were completely left off.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Not proof but i read an article about how UCLA got Lauren to love basketball again

That's cool. I had not seen that she lost it but glad she rediscovered it.

 

[Fossil]

Kiki Rice for, at least, Honorable Mention seems like a slight as well

I don’t know about Kiki Rice. I watched a few UCLA games and for a player. I was really excited to recruit to Yukon. I don’t see her progressing the way I thought she would. I don’t know how she is statistically but just from watching she looks like a really good player. Just not as elite as I thought she was going to be juju like. I know that would be a big ask but she was a big target for a lot of teams.

 

[The deacon]

A lot of great players for a small number of slots. Paige and Sarah both overcame playing very limited 4th quarter minutes earning the stats they had.

I've seen this take on Paige and Sarah pretty often here on the BY...

My thought is that, while I strongly feel both deserve All-American recognition, the counterpoint to your argument is that Paige and Sarah faced lesser opponents in many games. That reality undeniably has limited their PT, yet simultaneously made it easier for Paige and Sarah to build those impressive stats during blowout after blowout.

It works both ways, right?

 

[sun]

Can you prove Betts wouldn't have become an AA at Stanford if she stayed?

Also, UCLA has had AA before. I don't know if you meant 1st team specifically. Michaela Onyenwere, Jordin Canada and Maylana Martin have all made AP AA teams, although none 1st team it appears.

Going back in history, Ann Meyers was a 4 time WBCA All American and Denise Curry was 3 time. Maylana Martina and Natalie Williams also made WBCA AA teams.

The argument could be made that on,ly those named as the 1st team All American are the true All Americans.
The 2nd & 3rd team All Americans are considered to be 2nd & 3rd best based on a point rating system that led to their selection.
The 1st team All Americans are allowed to keep their 1st team status silent while the 2nd & 3rd team players should qualify their status with the 2nd or 3rd team moniker that indicates that they're 2nd or 3rd best and not 1st best as if to make it appear that they're the top shelf AA players when they're not.
The true All Americans are #1-#5, the rest are either #6 -#10 or #11 - #15.
Thus IMO those players named are either an All American, or a 2nd or 3rd team All American.
That's why Betts is UCLA's 1st All American as the article indicated.
If you don't agree like Betts being UCLA's 1st All American then take it up with the author of the article.

According to Google AI,
"In the context of sports, a "2nd team All-American" designation means an athlete is recognized as one of the top performers in their sport, but not among the absolute best, as indicated by the first-team selections."

Should there be 4th. 5th & 6th team All Amercans too so everyone can then be call an All American?
Of course not, only the best are the best & are so named "The All Americans" (1st team being silent).

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think it's still semantics. Betts is UCLA's first AP All American, okay. Ann Meyers is still regarded as one of the all time greats. I have to assume there was no AP All American team at the time, and WBCA was recognized as the body that made those designations. Thus UCLA did have All Americans, 1st Team, long prior to Betts.

 

[diggerfoot]

I've seen this take on Paige and Sarah pretty often here on the BY...

My thought is that, while I strongly feel both deserve All-American recognition, the counterpoint to your argument is that Paige and Sarah faced lesser opponents in many games. That reality undeniably has limited their PT, yet simultaneously made it easier for Paige and Sarah to build those impressive stats during blowout after blowout.

It works both ways, right?

It’s ironic you claim this after the most recent game. Bueckers tends to take over and score more against the tougher competition. If we played only cupcakes her production would be more like you just witnessed against Arkansas State. Still efficient, but with only eleven shots.

Our overall SoS is also better than what you imply it to be.

 

[DefenseBB]

As related to this is the 10 Member WBCA All-American team, which is announced in early April (last year it was April 4). The real interest is if Sarah Strong will make the 10 member list. She should but we all know how voting for freshman can get dicey. Sarah is leads of all D1 at WinShares with 8.1. Paige is second at 7.9. Hidalgo is at 7.1, Sedona Prince 7.0, Juju 6.9, Lauren Betts 6.4, Aneesah Morrow 6.4, Hailey Van Lith 6.3, Madison Booker at 5.7

So, as you can see Sarah has had a truly elite year, for any player.

 

[oldude]

As related to this is the 10 Member WBCA All-American team, which is announced in early April (last year it was April 4). The real interest is if Sarah Strong will make the 10 member list. She should but we all know how voting for freshman can get dicey. Sarah is leads of all D1 at WinShares with 8.1. Paige is second at 7.9. Hidalgo is at 7.1, Sedona Prince 7.0, Juju 6.9, Lauren Betts 6.4, Aneesah Morrow 6.4, Hailey Van Lith 6.3, Madison Booker at 5.7

So, as you can see Sarah has had a truly elite year, for any player.

I have a strong feeling that the last spot on the WBCA 1st team will come down to the 2 top freshmen in the country, Sarah and Mikayla Blakes of Vanderbilt. The process for the WBCA favors Sarah imo.

Players are nominated by their respective HC’s, with a maximum limit of 3 per team. The final selections to the team are made by a 10 member coaches committee that meets just prior to the Final Four, so performance during the initial rounds of the NCAA tournament may be considered by the committee.

Team success is one of the criteria considered by the committee. Unfortunately, Vandy bowed out during the 1st round of the Big Dance. While Blakes put up 26 points, it was a tough shooting day for her and she fouled out of the game.

Sarah on the other hand had a spectacular 1st round game as the 1st player in 25 years to put up 20-12-5-5 in an NCAA tournament game. A few more games like that, particularly if UConn makes it back to the FF, and Sarah is a lock imo.

 

[DEFCONN1]

the BY should do a better job spelling names, but some kind of executive action is needed to rein in the endless proliferation of variants on Caitlin/Caitlyn/Katelyn/Kaitlin/Kaitlyn/Katelin.... It's gotten WAY out of hand

CHEN

 

[jake0414]

I think it's still semantics. Betts is UCLA's first AP All American, okay. Ann Meyers is still regarded as one of the all time greats. I have to assume there was no AP All American team at the time, and WBCA was recognized as the body that made those designations. Thus UCLA did have All Americans, 1st Team, long prior to Betts.

The AP started selecting a Women’s NCAA All America Basketball Team with the 1994-95 season. Natalie Williams graduated from UCLA in 1994. She would have been selected an AP All American but she missed it by a year.

 

[bballnut90]

The AP started selecting a Women’s NCAA All America Basketball Team with the 1994-95 season. Natalie Williams graduated from UCLA in 1994. She would have been selected an AP All American but she missed it by a year.

Maylana Martin was a Kodak All American and a 3rd team AA in 1999