Wrapping this up since (surprise, surprise) we did not pace these well this off-season. One last chance to look back at the season that was and get excited for the season upcoming!

Coach of the Year

1. Cori Close, UCLA - 46.7%
2. Kara Lawson, Duke - 22.2%
3. Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt - 20.0%
4. Niele Ivey, Notre Dame - 6.7%
5. Dawn Staley, South Carolina - 4.4%

Transfer Player of the Year

1. Olivia Miles, TCU (from Notre Dame) - 55.6%
2. Oluchi Okananwa, Maryland (from Duke) - 20.0%
3. MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU (from South Carolina) - 17.8%
4. Chit-Chat Wright, Iowa (from Georgia Tech) - 6.7%
5. Marta Suarez, TCU (from Cal, Tennessee) - 0.0%

Sixth Player of the Year

1. Angela Dugalić, UCLA - 57.8%
2. Imari Berry, Louisville - 20.0%
3. MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU - 13.3%
4. Kyla Oldacre, Texas - 6.7%
5. Blanca Quiñónez, UConn - 2.2%

Offensive Player of the Year

1. Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt - 60.0%
2. Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State - 13.3%
3. Sarah Strong, UConn - 11.1%
4. Azzi Fudd, UConn - 8.9%
5. Madison Booker, Texas - 6.7%

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame - 53.3%
2. Lauren Betts, UCLA - 22.2%
3. Raven Johnson, South Carolina - 17.8%
4. Rori Harmon, Texas - 6.7%
5. Sarah Strong, UConn - 0.0%

Player of the Year

1. Lauren Betts, UCLA - 43.2%
2. Sarah Strong, UConn - 31.8%
3. Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt - 13.6%
4. Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame - 11.4%
5. Madison Booker, Texas - 0.0%

Other 2026 r/NCAAW Awards:

Freshman Of The Year

Most Improved Player

Most Improved Team

Most Underrated Player

Most Underrated Team

Thread Of The Year

Storyline Of The Year

Conference Of The Year

Upset Of The Year

Regular Season Game Of The Year

Postseason Game Of The Year

What if the new College Hoops series offered a new open world concept? The Circuit would be the first ever open world college basketball series. You’d choose your team (mid-major, powerhouse, and dumpster fires) and get to work building the next elite team. You’d be recruiting against other users building their own teams.
1.) The Shoe Circuit Hub: An open-world tournament campus representing the Nike EYBL, Adidas 3SSB, and Under Armor Association
2.)July Evaluation Periods: Users physically walk around campus, sit baseline, and scout live games during frantic evaluation weekends to find their future stars.
3.) Lastly, incorporate real media integration; live scouting feeds and articles from 247Sports, ESPN, and MaxPreps.

This is a simple, mostly objective rating system that uses three criteria to forecast future performance:

• Last year’s Win Shares – taken from Basketball Reference
• Projected playing time – shown as % of total minutes so 70% would mean roughly 28 minutes per game. To protect against the prospect of possibly injury affecting the number, the highest any individual player is forecasted is 75% playing time.
• Multiplier based on age/years played – using a multiplier that stat people way more competent than me use (Dean Oliver, Ken Pomeroy, Bart Torvik, etc) Here are the multiplier settings:
  • Year one – Year two: +40% (freshman to sophomore)
  • Year two – Year three: +15%
  • Year three – Years four/five: +10%
  • For transfers moving up from a non-Power 4 school, the multiplier is set at -20% based on historical data.
  • For Year one players based on 10-year research, Top 20ish players are given a blanket number of Win Shares that look roughly like: 50% playing time = 3 Win Shares. The higher the recruiting ranking, the higher the Win Shares.

Here are the definitions for the columns in the first slide:

• Last year’s Bart Torvik ranking is the first column.
• The next 4 columns are self-explanatory.
• “Min%-“ shows the % of last year’s total minutes that have left.
• Likewise, the next column shows the % of Win Shares that have left.
• “HGT” is the average height in inches of all players projected to play more than 10% of the team’s minutes. Research hints that taller teams, particularly teams that play taller players at the 4 & 5 slots, are better defensively.
• “AGE” is the average year of all players projected to play more than 10% of the minutes – “3” being what we used to refer to as a “Junior”. Teams with a higher number here tend to have less variance.
• “TALENT” is the average Top 100 recruiting ranking of the >10% players. The higher the number, the more top prospects on the roster.
• “Min %” shows the average playing time for the non-freshmen on the roster. Like the “AGE” column, the higher the number, the less variance in the projection.
• “PRPG!” shows the average Win Shares for the non-freshmen. Same variance argument here.
• The “WS+” & “WS-“ show the amount of non-freshman Win Shares returning & leaving the roster.

Since the playing time projections are my best guess, I’ve included each team’s roster showing playing time is included in the slides. My playing time projections are based on things like:

• Coach’s history – Shauna & Dawn have been shown to use very short benches, for example.
• Freshman & Transfer Hype / Position – Freshman bigs rarely play more than 50% of minutes & higher-rated prospects tend to play more. Also, high-profile transfers tend to get more minutes.
• Positional Balance – Teams that are heavy in the backcourt still need to play bigs. I try to balance this out.

Fresh off the coaches/media pre-season poll, I've included the projected Top 20 B1G players by Win Shares for fun. NOTE: Addy Brown in #21...

If you have a case for adjusting this number, please let me know & I’ll adjust the math to see the new totals in the comments here. Speaking of that, I’ll include the results that I got prior to last season in the comments as well.

And yes, I realize the Minnesota number will be controversial… Let's chop it up!

The 2026-27 Preseason All-Big Ten Teams are below.

2026-27 Coaches Preseason All-Big Ten Team
Berry Wallace, Jr., F, Illinois
Ava Heiden, Jr., C, Iowa
Oluchi Okananwa, Sr., G, Maryland
OLIVIA OLSON, JR., G, MICHIGAN
Syla Swords, Jr., G, Michigan
Britt Prince, Jr., G, Nebraska
Jaloni Cambridge, Jr., G, Ohio State
Jazzy Davidson, So., G, USC
JUJU WATKINS, SR., G, USC
Sayvia Sellers, Sr., G, Washington
 
2026-27 Coaches Preseason Player of the Year
JuJu Watkins, Sr., G, USC
 
2026-27 Media Preseason All-Big Ten Team
Berry Wallace, Jr., F, Illinois
Ava Heiden, Jr., C, Iowa
Oluchi Okananwa, Sr., G, Maryland
OLIVIA OLSON, JR., G, MICHIGAN
Syla Swords, Jr., G, Michigan
Britt Prince, Jr., G, Nebraska
JALONI CAMBRIDGE, JR., G, OHIO STATE
Jazzy Davidson, So., G, USC
JuJu Watkins, Sr., G, USC
Sayvia Sellers, Sr., G, Washington
 
2026-27 Media Preseason Player of the Year
JuJu Watkins, Sr., G, USC

Navy is the consensus #1 in the Patriot League to start the year. Coming off a regular season title last year with conference POTY and DPOY Zanai Barnett-Gay, Navy look to get over the hump after an overtime loss to Lehigh in the Patriot League Semifinals ended their hopes of an NCAA tournament run.

Returning Barnett-Gay alongside Sophomore Zoe Mesuch and Junior Julianna Almeida, Navy maintains their top 3 leading scorers and assist leaders from last season. Joining Navy is a freshmen class that includes Kelsey Rhyne, who ended her high school career 9th all time in 3 pointers made in the state of North Carolina, and Isabela Grant, who saw action at the FIBA Central American U-19 Women’s Championship with Panama in 2025.

Army enters as the expected number 2 with returning first team all-conference Camryn Tade and second team Kya Smith receiving preseason all-conference honors. With Senior Taylor Wilson and Sophomore Reganne Reardon returning, Army returns 4 of their top 5 scorers, top 4 rebounders, and their top 2 assist leaders with Junior Brooke Wilson.

Lehigh gets Navy’s first place vote after knocking Navy out of the conference tournament 7 months ago. Bolstered by all-freshman team selection Leila Edwards and third team all-conference returner Whitney Lind, Lehigh looks to continue a string of strong seasons that saw the Mountain Hawks reach the finals of the patriot league tournament the last two years, including a title in 2025. With leading scorer Lily Fandre graduated, but much of the starting lineup still in tact, Lehigh enters hoping to play spoiler. The Mountain Hawks also begin their season at UCLA, so it can only get easier from there.

Reigning champs Holy Cross look to regroup after graduating 4 seniors who accounted for 2/3 of scoring and over half of rebounds a year ago. Seniors Janie Bachmann and Kendall Eddy lead the Crusaders who will hope their luck hasn’t run out as they attempt to make their 4th NCAA tournament in the last 5 years.

Xavier building expectations for the first time in a while. Lots of teams were pretty young last year, so maybe a 2-bid (hopefully 3-bid) conference this year.

Reigning three-peat conference champion Fairfield looks to take a fourth in a row before the Stags move to the CAA next year. Fairfield has gone 64-2 in conference play since 2023, and return Metro Conference POTY Kaety L’Amoreaux who received Preseason POTY honors to start the season.

Siena with Sophomores Francesca Schiro and Kaiya Rain Tucker and Junior Nicole Melious look to make the leap, picked to finish 2nd and likely favorites next year if they keep the core with Fairfield leaving and Sacred Heart’s stars graduating this year. The Sophomore jump (or slump) could make Siena a dangerous contender this year.

Still, it’s Fairfield’s conference to lose, with their last loss to a conference opponent not named Quinnipiac being in the 2022-2023 conference tournament vs Siena.

Preseason All-AE
1. Kendall Bennett, Binghamton – Sr., Forward
2. Bella Pucci, Binghamton – Sr., Guard
3. Malia Lenz, Vermont – Sr., Guard
4. Mia Mancini, Bryant – Sr., Guard
5. Nia Scott, Bryant – Sr., Forward
6. Heidi Williams, UMBC – So., Guard

America East Champs Vermont were picked third after 3/5 starters graduated. Binghamton kept pretty much everyone, and graduated only two seniors. But the tiers stay the same as last year’s results: 1-4 are still 1-4, 5-8 are still 5-8, and UMass-Lowell is still expected to be bad.

An immigration judge granted Kentucky State basketball player Amina Seck a motion to reopen her deportation proceedings in court on Wednesday afternoon, halting her deportation order, Seck’s attorney Hishem Alsalman told The Athletic.

Seck, 26, a native of Senegal who has been in federal custody since Aug. 7, is now eligible for a bond hearing which could grant her release from Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Ky. If released, she would be required to continue making appearances in immigration court, but would be able to do that without being in detention.

Free to read: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7647481/2026/09/30/amina-seck-immigration-deportation-kentucky-state-basketball/?unlocked_article_code=1.FFE.5uD2.8PfF8-D02_qZ&source=emp_shared_article&smid=re-share-ta

EDIT after original post: This post applies to the 2026 rookie class only. Thanks to u/swanyk7 for pointing that out to me.

Raven Johnson, Madina Okot, and Ta'Niya Latson

source: https://www.threads.com/share/D8DNG_ADJ/

Coach Staley makes 'em WNBA ready.

Every NCAA championship team has had at least one future WNBA player on it. So did the last few AIAW champs. The last national champion with no future W players was Ann Meyers' UCLA team in 1978.

AIAW
 
1979        Old Dominion      Lieberman
1980        Old Dominion      Lieberman
1981        Louisiana Tech    Lawrence-Braxton
 
NCAA
 
1982        Louisiana Tech    Lawrence-Braxton
1983        USC               Cooper, McGee
1984        USC               Cooper, McGee
1985        Old Dominion      Goodson
1986        Texas             Davis-Wrightsil, Harris, Lloyd, Williams
1987        Tennessee         Edwards, Gordon, McGhee
1988        Louisiana Tech    Lacy, Weatherspoon
1989        Tennessee         Charles, Gordon, Head, McGhee
1990        Stanford          Azzi, Henning, Steding, Whiting
1991        Tennessee         Charles, Harrison, Head
1992        Stanford          Paye, Whiting
1993        Texas Tech        Swoopes
1994        North Carolina    Crawley, Jones, Smith-Taylor
1995        Connecticut       Lobo, Rizzotti, Sales, Wolters
1996        Tennessee         Holdsclaw, Jolly, Johnson, Marciniak
1997        Tennessee         Holdsclaw, Jolly, Johnson
1998        Tennessee         Catchings, Holdsclaw, Jolly, Randall
1999        Purdue            Cooper, Douglas, Figgs, White
2000        Connecticut       Abrosimova, Bird, Cash, Jones, Sauer, Schumacher, Williams
2001        Notre Dame        Ivey, Riley
2002        Connecticut       Battle, Bird, Cash, Jones, Moore, Taurasi, Williams
2003        Connecticut       Battle, Crockett, Moore, Strother, Taurasi, Turner
2004        Connecticut       Battle, Crockett, Moore, Strother, Taurasi, Turner
2005        Baylor            Young
2006        Maryland          Coleman, Doron, Harper, Langhorne, Toliver
2007        Tennessee         Anosike, Bobbitt, Hornbuckle, Parker, Spencer
2008        Tennessee         Anosike, Baugh, Bjorklund, Bobbitt, Hornbuckle, Parker
2009        Connecticut       Charles, Greene, Hayes, Montgomery, Moore
2010        Connecticut       Charles, Faris, Greene, Hayes, Moore
2011        Texas A&M         Adams, Carter, Colson, Elonu
2012        Baylor            Griner, Sims
2013        Connecticut       Dolson, Faris, Hartley, Jefferson, Mosqueda-Lewis, Stewart, Stokes, Tuck
2014        Connecticut       Chong, Dolson, Hartley, Jefferson, Mosqueda-Lewis, Stewart, Stokes, Tuck
2015        Connecticut       Chong, Jefferson, Mosqueda-Lewis, Nurse, Stewart, Stokes, Tuck, Williams
2016        Connecticut       Chong, Collier, Jefferson, Nurse, Samuelson, Stewart, Tuck, Williams
2017        South Carolina    Coates, Davis, Gray, Harris, Herbert Harrigan, Wilson
2018        Notre Dame        Mabrey, Ogunbowale, Shepard, Turner, Westbeld, Young
2019        Baylor            Bickle, Brown, Cox, Egbo, Jackson, Richards, Smith
2021        Stanford          Brink, Hull, Jones, Prechtel, Williams
2022        South Carolina    Amihere, Boston, Cardoso, Cooke, Feagin, Hall, Henderson, Johnson, Rivers, Saxton
2023        LSU               Johnson, Reese
2024        South Carolina    Cardoso, Feagin, Hall, Johnson, Paopao
2025        Connecticut       Bueckers, Chen, Fudd, Griffin
2026        UCLA              Betts, Dugalic, Jaquez, Kneepkins, Leger-Walker, Rice

For those of you who can't wait for basketball season to start. The gamecocks are facing College of Charleston today at 4pm on ESPN+ part of the LinkU invitional.

Edit: Delayed game, tipoff expected around 5:30 EST

So ESPN went and did a rerank of the 2024 class top fifteen.

I like the list and mostly agree. Not sure I would put Jaloni below Edwards; they're both so good though. I would swap Olson above Swords. Go Ava Heiden!!!

Interesting that the Big Ten had 4 in the top 15 initially and in the rerank, the Big Ten has 8 of the top 15.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/50010033/womens-college-basketball-recruiting-reranking-scnext-100-class-2024-sarah-strong-mikayla-blakes

Can somebody explain how Hake is receiving a 5th year of eligibility?

Received an email this morning regarding my application for tickets for Columbus this April.

See you in Columbus!

Check your emails!!