USA TODAY Sports women's basketball All-American teams

[ctdogpound]

USA TODAY Sports women's basketball All-American teams

FIRST TEAM
F A’ja Wilson, 6-5, senior, South Carolina
G/F Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, junior, Connecticut
G Asia Durr, 5-10, junior, Louisville
G Sabrina Ionescu, 5-10, sophomore, Oregon
G Victoria Vivians, 6-1, senior, Mississippi State

 

[DefenseBB]

All rationale choices with the premium, as usual place on scoring. I would swap out Vivians or Durr for Gabby as I think she's better than both.

 

[Rb335]

I would’ve chosen Lexie Brown, or Sophie Cunningham over Brooke McCarty. Not to mention the absence of McGowan. Seems like Brooke has been in a full season long shooting slump.

 

[eebmg]

It seems there may be an underlying rational in the ordering of the picks. With Aja first and Lou second, are they trying to simply order players 1-15 since there is no alphabetical order and no real pattern of position I can see?

 

[bags27]

Of course, this is the "top 5" with some acknowledgement of position.

Assuming Lou can be in 2 places at once, it'd be interesting to see this team play the current UConn team. Not sure the all-americans would have such an easy time of it, especially if Z gets to play as 6th man.

 

[Vowelguy]

I thought Kalani might make first team but hard to argue with Durr/Vivians, and nice to see Ionescu get it over Mitchell since I think she did have a better year.

 

[Vowelguy]

Very surprised that Collier made 3rd team.

 

[Vowelguy]

That suggests preseason 2018-19 AA of ....

FIRST TEAM

C Kalani Brown, 6-7, SR, Baylor
G/F Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, SR, Connecticut
G Asia Durr, 5-10, SR, Louisville
G Sabrina Ionescu, 5-10, JR, Oregon
G Arike Ogunbowale, 5-8, SR, Notre Dame

SECOND TEAM

F Megan Gustafson, 6-3, SR, Iowa
F Napheesa Collier, 6-1, SR, Connecticut

 

[triaddukefan]

No Lexie Brown? at all?

 

[Rixxx]

Unfortunately, No TN players on the lists. I guess we go back to 2008 = CP3.

 

[Charliebball]

the first of the many lists to come with Aja Wilson winning NPOY...............it's preordained so it must be so.................. whether it's the right choice is debatable

 

[rugbymate]

The MM COY was somewhat of a surprise....there was a least a couple more deserving IMO. Candidly, maybe its her lack of graciousness around the Stewie and Durr events or the flopping incidents over the years that taint my view of her.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think I would have put Brown on the first team, over either Vivians or Ionescu. But it’s close.

 

[WLT1717]

Reasonable people can differ, but I would place Gabby ahead of Victoria 100 times out of 100. Not even close. But many considerations go into the making of such lists.

 

[MilfordHusky]

The MM COY was somewhat of a surprise....there was a least a couple more deserving IMO. Candidly, maybe its her lack of graciousness around the Stewie and Durr events or the flopping incidents over the years that taint my view of her.

Yeah, that and what she said about Durr this year. Muffett did a good job, but she got a huge bonus from the NCAA by their inexplicable decision on Shepard. I though Vic was the best coach.

 

[VAMike23]

Not a big fan of MM's dismissive demeanor at times, but IMO she is the right pick for COY this year.

 

[CocoHusky]

Both Brooke McCarthy and Brittany McPhee make the cut team and Lexie Brown doesn't?
That just not right!

 

[CocoHusky]

That suggests preseason 2018-19 AA of ....

FIRST TEAM

C Kalani Brown, 6-7, SR, Baylor
G/F Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, SR, Connecticut
G Asia Durr, 5-10, SR, Louisville
G Sabrina Ionescu, 5-10, JR, Oregon
G Arike Ogunbowale, 5-8, SR, Notre Dame

SECOND TEAM

F Megan Gustafson, 6-3, SR, Iowa
F Napheesa Collier, 6-1, SR, Connecticut

And all of these players were also on the 2017-18 pre-season team.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

All rationale choices with the premium, as usual place on scoring. I would swap out Vivians or Durr for Gabby as I think she's better than both.

I'd swap out 3, but USA Today is more into regional distribution than empirical AA team building.

 

[Vowelguy]

Likely a reflection of playing for an under the radar team. I dont think I heard her, or even Duke more generally, mentioned once this year in a broader wcbb discussion.

As for those that think is everything is against UConn, I think Collier making 3rd team works against that. I love Pheesa, but I think she got overshadowed by her teammates and did not have a remarkable year.

 

[Oldbones]

USA TODAY Sports women's basketball All-American teams

FIRST TEAM
F A’ja Wilson, 6-5, senior, South Carolina
G/F Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, junior, Connecticut
G Asia Durr, 5-10, junior, Louisville
G Sabrina Ionescu, 5-10, sophomore, Oregon
G Victoria Vivians, 6-1, senior, Mississippi State

If A'ja is "one of the most unique (sic) players in the women’s game" what qualified superlatives are left for UCONN's 5'11"
Center jumper supreme/forward/wing/defensive POY/assist leader/steals-rebounding whiz?

 

[Orangutan]

I love Pheesa, but I think she got overshadowed by her teammates and did not have a remarkable year.

I hear you. But Collier is 2nd in points, rebounds, and minutes for the undefeated #1 team in the nation. That goes a long ways with these types of awards.

 

[Huskie78]

If A'ja is "one of the most unique (sic) players in the women’s game" what qualified superlatives are left for UCONN's 5'11"
Center jumper supreme/forward/wing/defensive POY/assist leader/steals-rebounding whiz?

How about Gabby "LT" Williams?
The LT stands for 'Lotsa Trouble' for the opposition.

 

[EricLA]

The MM COY was somewhat of a surprise....there was a least a couple more deserving IMO. Candidly, maybe its her lack of graciousness around the Stewie and Durr events or the flopping incidents over the years that taint my view of her.

To a degree I do agree with you but... She had a boatload of injuries to key players - Turner (POY candidate), Mychal Johnson (SR guard), Mikayla Vaughn (FR post), and Lilli Thompson (PG - transfer - sr).

In spite of all those injuries (some early in the season and some late), ND is still a legit 1 seed and threat to make the final 4. I don't care for her, but have no issue with her getting COY. I do get that there are some teams that seemingly came out of nowhere to do very well and maybe they should get more consideration, but no team has had to deal with more injuries to key players (ND essentially lost at least 2 starters)...

I'm with those who are confused by the omission of Lexi Brown...

 

[nwhoopfan]

A lot of good players didn't make this list. Everyone has their biases, who you root for or who you watch more frequently plays a role. 3 players I could make a case for that are absent are Ruthy Hebard, Monique Billings and Marie Gulich.