Fresh off announcing their 2024/25 Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) semifinalists on Tuesday, the Naismith Awards dropped this year’s National Player of the Year (POY) semifinalist lineup on Thursday, with four NCAA basketball stars earning spots on both elite lists.
Eight of the 10 athletes in the running for POY hail from Top 10 teams, with all players coming from programs who finished the 2024/25 NCAA regular season with an AP Poll ranking.
With three semifinalists each, the ACC and SEC lead the field. The Big Ten boasts two POY semifinalists, while the Big 12 and Big East each claim one.
Only one team — No. 8 Notre Dame — saw multiple players named as POY semifinalists, with two Irish standouts making the cut.
Snagging nods on both DPOY and POY shortlists are No. 4 USC sophomore JuJu Watkins, No. 8 Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo, No. 10 LSU senior Aneesah Morrow, and No. 1 UCLA junior Lauren Betts — the only center to earn a POY semifinalist spot.
Five guards join the four defensive standouts, including No. 3 UConn senior Paige Bueckers, No. 6 TCU grad student Hailey Van Lith, No. 8 Notre Dame grad student Olivia Miles, No. 13 Kentucky grad student Georgia Amoore, and No. 23 Florida State junior Ta’Niya Latson.
Rounding out the 2024/25 POY contenders is No. 5 Texas sophomore Madison Booker, the only forward named to the list.
Star turns have Naismith semifinalists topping the NCAA
On the Division I scoring sheet, Latson and Watkins top all other NCAA players with 24.9 and 24.6 points per game, respectively. Hidalgo's 24.2 average also puts her as the nation's No. 4 scorer.
Capping her season as the No. 3 dime-dropper is Amoore, who averages just under seven assists per game.
As the nation's top overall and best offensive rebounder, Morrow's 27 double-doubles on the season — five more than any other Division I player — helped secure her DPOY and POY semifinalist spots.
Meanwhile, Miles also owns an elite multi-stat NCAA position, finishing 2024/25 regular-season play as the only DI athlete to post three triple-doubles.
Five of the 10 semifinalists have already claimed some POY hardware for their 2024/25 performances, with Hidalgo, Van Lith, Bueckers, Watkins, and Booker all earning the honor for their respective conferences.
Notably, lone Big East representative Bueckers already owns a Naismith POY Award. The Husky booked the honor in 2021, and still stands as the only freshman winner in the award's now 42-year history.
Ultimately, just four of the 10 Naismith POY semifinalists will move on to March 25th’s final round, with the 2024/25 winner to be crowned on April 2nd — two days before the NCAA tournament's Final Four tips off.
In the brief moment between Sunday's NCAA basketball regular-season finale and Wednesday's tip off of major conference tournaments, Division I (DI) leagues doled out their individual 2024/25 season awards to top performers on Tuesday — raising the temperature of the National Player of the Year debate.
No. 6 Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo topped the ACC, with the conference naming her both Player of the Year (POY) and, for the second straight year, Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY).
Top-ranked Texas's Madison Booker took SEC POY honors just one year after becoming the first freshman to book POY in the Longhorns' previous conference, the Big 12.
Meanwhile, No. 12 Kentucky sophomore center Clara Strack snagged DPOY, rising to the top of a stacked SEC field that includes No. 9 LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, No. 5 South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards, and fellow Wildcat standout Georgia Amoore.
Taking over the Big 12 is No. 8 TCU transfer guard Hailey Van Lith, who became the first Horned Frog to earn POY alongside the conference's Newcomer of the Year award. Earning the league's DPOY nod is No. 16 West Virginia senior JJ Quinerly, who booked the honor for the second season in a row.
After leading the No. 2 USC to a regular-season title, sophomore star JuJu Watkins booked Big Ten POY, while fellow conference debutant No. 4 UCLA saw their standout center Lauren Betts take home DPOY honors.
Leaders emerge in National Player of the Year race
An NCAA basketball season defined by surging parity and momentum swings denied the emergence of any clear-cut National Player of the Year (NPOY) favorite, but three headliners managed to separate themselves from the pack entering postseason play.
Thanks to her late-season heroics, Big Ten leader Watkins is the second most prolific DI scorer at 24.4 points per game (PPG), only trailing No. 22 Florida State guard Ta'Niya Latson, who boasts 25.4 PPG.
Fellow NPOY frontrunner Morrow is just the second player to record 100 career double-doubles in NCAA DI history, though LSU’s recent skid could impact her individual award standing.
After becoming the first-ever freshman to win NPOY in 2021, No. 3 UConn star Paige Bueckers’s 53.3 season field goal percentage has the senior guard back in contention for the 2025 title.
With award-worthy performances across the NCAA bringing unprecedented parity to the sport's end-of-season honors, this year's NPOY race is vastly different from last season's back-to-back no-brainer win by Iowa legend Caitlin Clark, as multiple stars make the case for DI's top individual 2024/25 honor.
NCAA basketball teams traveled to off-campus mini-tournaments during last week's Thanksgiving break, with results showing that some teams feasted while others fought over leftovers.
Reigning national champions South Carolina went on a redemption tour at the Fort Myers Tip-Off, while Notre Dame struggled at the Cayman Islands Classic.
Notre Dame drops two NCAA basketball games in a row
Following last week's huge win against title contender No. 6 USC, then-No. 3 Notre Dame hit an unexpected skid over the weekend, falling first 76-68 to then-No. 17 TCU on Friday before further stumbling 78-67 against unranked Utah on Saturday.
Star guard Hannah Hidalgo's 27 points weren't enough to topple the Horned Frogs, who saw center Sedona Prince and guards Hailey Van Lith and Madison Connor put up a combined average of almost 20 points in the Friday battle.
Similarly, though Notre Dame junior guard Sonia Citron's 22 points made her the only player on either team to sink more than 16 points on Saturday, the Utes' team effort won the day. Seven Utah athletes drained at least five points, with four notching double-digits.
"I just thought today our depth hurt us with our foul trouble, and consecutive games back-to-back against two really good teams," head coach Niele Ivey said of the Irish's first successive losses since 2021.
South Carolina bounces back in style
On the other hand, then-No. 4 South Carolina bounced back big time from their first regular-season loss since 2022 on Thursday, defeating then-No. 15 Iowa State 76-36 to right the ship after last weekend's UCLA upset.
The Gamecocks' defense controlled the floor throughout the first half, allowing just nine points from the Cyclones while nine different South Carolina players scored.
Only four Iowa State players put up points in the matchup, with sophomore star Audi Crooks shooting far below her season average at just 13 points.
"Obviously, there were some lapses in the UCLA game that weren't characteristic of us," commented South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. "That is our nemesis — to be able to lock in on both sides of the ball and not have as many lapses or put them on the free-throw line as much as we did."
South Carolina continued making a statement on Saturday, when 11 Gamecocks — including seven double-digit scorers — combined to handily defeat Purdue 99-51.
Early season losses shake up NCAA basketball rankings
With five teams from last week's AP Top 10 already racking up early non-conference losses, Monday's Top 25 reflected the chaos.
Notre Dame plummeted seven spots to No. 7 thanks to their stalled weekend offense, while South Carolina leveled up to No. 3 with their weekend wins. After suffering the 40-point blowout loss to the Gamecocks, Iowa State took the week's second-biggest tumble, dropping five spots to No. 20.
UCLA maintained their grip on No. 1 after complementing last week's upset over reigning champs South Carolina with three additional wins, with No. 2 UConn holding steady just behind the Bruins.
The week's biggest riser was TCU, whose victory over the Irish launched them eight spots to No. 9 — the program's first-ever Top 10 ranking.
Boosting the Big Ten to a league-leading nine ranked teams this week is poll season debutants and state rivals No. 23 Michigan and No. 24 Michigan State, who make their first AP appearances since 2023 and 2021, respectively.
How to watch NCAA women's basketball this week
Monday's rankings raised the stakes in this week's matchups, with two Top 10 games emerging on Thursday's docket.
First, No. 4 Texas will put their undefeated season on the line against the skidding No. 10 Notre Dame at 7 PM ET. Live coverage will air on ESPN.
Then, No. 3 South Carolina will host new-No. 8 Duke, who'll take aim at the Gamecocks' win-streak recovery at 9 PM ET, also airing on ESPN.
USA Basketball released its official 3×3 Olympic roster on Wednesday, naming some familiar faces to the four-player team.
2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup champs Cameron Brink, Cierra Burdick, and Hailey Van Lith were all named to the squad alongside 2022 No. 1 draft pick Rhyne Howard. Brink was named MVP of the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup, while Burdick also won gold at the 2014 World Championship for 3×3.
Brink is a rookie in the WNBA this season, going No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks. Van Lith, meanwhile, will finish her college career at TCU this upcoming season.
"It is an honor to announce the USA Basketball 3×3 Women's National Team," Jay Demings, USA Basketball 3×3 national team director and member of the USA Basketball 3×3 women's selection committee said in a statement. "It is an exciting process to put a roster together that will represent the country on a global stage. We are thankful for all the athletes who attended training camps or participated in 3×3 competitions on the journey to Paris 2024."
2011 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year and current WNBA Connecticut Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti will be the team’s head coach, while University of Rhode Island coach Tammi Reiss will be her assistant.
The sport was first introduced at the 2020 Tokyo Games, with the WNBA’s Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young all taking home the inaugural gold medal.
Other qualified teams for the women's Olympic 3×3 competition include China, France, Azerbaijan, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Canada. Team USA is currently ranked second in the world behind China.
Hailey Van Lith is reportedly on her way to TCU, says Talia Goodman of The Next Hoops.
The former Louisville star joined LSU for the 2023-24 season, but a disappointing run in Baton Rouge saw her enter the transfer portal once again at the season’s end. Van Lith opted to use her fifth year of eligibility versus declaring for the WNBA draft.
Van Lith was admittedly less effective as a Tiger. Her field goal percentage decreased from .411 in 2022-23 with Louisville to .388 at LSU. She also went from averaging 19.7 points per game to just 11.6, due in part to a change of position from shooting guard to more of a point guard role.
At an end-of-season banquet last week, LSU coach Kim Mulkey used her speech to wish Van Lith well, calling her "one of the hardest working players that I’ve ever coached."
"Her aspirations were to get drafted this year," Mulkey said, according to NOLA.com. "And she realized, 'I need another year, and I need to go back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position.'
"And what do you do? You hug her, and you wish her well."
The decision to commit to TCU may come as a surprise after Van Lith paid a visit to Mississippi State last weekend. The Horned Frogs finished out the 2023-24 season 21-12 overall, coming in 9th in the Big 12 and scoring an average of 69.5 points per game. The program also made headlines in January when they held mid-season open tryouts in response to an onslaught of sidelining injuries.
No.7 LSU topped Virginia at the Cayman Islands Classic, 76-73, with help from its transfers and younger players.
With two starters out of their lineup — Angel Reese and Sa’Myah Smith — head coach Kim Mulkey and the Tigers had to look elsewhere for scoring production. And Aneesah Morrow delivered.
Morrow knocked down 37 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in her biggest game at LSU yet.
“That’s one of my prouder victories in all of my coaching career,” LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said to nola.com. “Under the circumstances this team has had to deal with, to win that game and have players playing out of position and ask them to do things that they’re not comfortable with, just a gutsy performance.”
The transfer from DePaul notched her second-consecutive double-double in a Tigers uniform after she collected 28 points and 10 rebounds against Niagara on Friday. Morrow is used to earning double-doubles — she only had 53 in her two seasons with DePaul.
Hailey Van Lith, a transfer from Louisville, also had a successful night for LSU. She was the only other Tiger to score in double-digits, scoring 12 points for her squad.
“Aneesah and Hailey bring experience to our team right now,” Mulkey said to Tiger Rag. “They’re experience having played at the college level is helping us right now. What they don’t know about our system, they know about the toughness of the game at this level.”
The WNBA draft lottery is set for Dec. 10, with four teams in the running for the No. 1 overall pick — the Indiana Fever, Phoenix Mercury, Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm.
While the Mercury finished the 2023 season with the worst record, the WNBA combines the two seasons prior to the draft to determine the odds for the No. 1 overall pick. So the Fever, who won the lottery for the first time in franchise history in 2023, have the best shot at the No. 1 pick again in 2024.
Who will each team select when the draft rolls around in April? Just Women’s Sports projects the four lottery picks, based on the team odds for the draft lottery.
1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Clark is arguably the biggest star in college basketball.
Last year’s consensus player of the year, the Hawkeyes senior proved herself an elite shooter, leading the NCAA in 3-pointers with 140 and finishing second in scoring with 27.8 points per game. She also has the ability to make the players around her better — she led Division I with 8.6 assists per game. And she is putting on a show again this season, with a 44-point game on her stat sheet.
Clark has another year of NCAA eligibility remaining the 2023-24 season, and she has suggested that she may use it. But if she chooses to go to the WNBA, she’s a clear front-runner for the No. 1 overall pick.
2. Phoenix Mercury: Paige Bueckers, UConn
Bueckers is another elite shooter and playmaker. She secured national player of the year honors as a freshman in 2021, and her shooting ability is nearly unmatched.
The Huskies guard, though, has significantly fewer college appearances under her belt than many of the other players qualified for the 2024 draft due to injuries — including a torn ACL that caused her to miss all of last season.
A redshirt junior, Bueckers has played just 46 games for UConn, and she is eligible to stay with the program through 2026. But after putting together a lackluster season in 2022 and finishing with the worst record overall in 2023, the Mercury may be willing to take a risk for a shot like Bueckers’.
3. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink, Stanford
Brink is a versatile big who brings good offense and great defense to the table.
While she is not as prolific a scorer as Clark or Bueckers — a tall order, indeed — her defense makes up for it. The 6-foot-4 senior averaged 3.47 blocks per game last year, placing her third in the league.
And she can score from the post and from the perimeter, making her a smart addition to any team. Brink posted 20 points and 17 rebounds as she showcased her scoring prowess against No. 9 Indiana on Nov. 12.
4. Seattle Storm: Aaliyah Edwards, UConn
The departure of Breanna Stewart has left the Storm in need of a strong post presence, and UConn’s leading scorer could provide just that.
Edwards led the Huskies on the scoresheet last season, dropping 16.6 points per game, and she leads the team again through four games this season, with 18.0 per game.
Her size is also an advantage — the 6-foot-3 power forward is a force on the court and a fearsome defender and rebounder. She collected an average of 9.0 rebounds per game last season and her one-on-one defense is top-notch.
Honorable mentions
These players also would be great choices in the first round, in no particular order:
- Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina
- Angel Reese, LSU
- Hailey Van Lith, LSU
- Rickea Jackson, Tennessee
- Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech
- Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State
Kim Mulkey didn’t hold back after top-ranked LSU basketball lost its season opener to No. 20 Colorado, citing players’ lack of leadership in the 92-78 loss.
“I’m disappointed and surprised in some individual players that I thought would just be tougher and have a little fight and leadership about them,” Mulkey said. “But I knew what we faced. When you have that many kids that played that many minutes together [as Colorado], we had our hands full. Colorado did exactly what I thought they would do.”
Some of the Tigers issues are ones Mulkey can “live with,” such as poor shooting, which led to a “tough night offensively,” the head coach said.
“What I don’t live with is just guts and fight and physical play [not being there],” she continued. “You got that dog in you. I just didn’t think we had that tonight.”
LSU freshman Mikaylah Williams (17 points) and sophomore Sa’Myah Smith (16) led the team in scoring. The pair “did all they could,” according to Mulkey.
“You’re talking about a true freshman and a true sophomore. We need more than just them to have a little bit of fight,” she continued, noting that the team’s second line of defense was “nonexistent.” Still, she notes that these things are “fixable,” though she doesn’t know how long it will take.
“We’re not the same team today we were when we won it all,” she said. “I don’t know if anything that went on this summer [with new players transferring in] has anything whatsoever to do with [our] locker room. I think [our] locker room is affected by Colorado being a very good team.”
Angel Reese set an NCAA single-season record with 34 double-doubles last season, and she picked up where she left off, with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Star transfer Hailey Van Lith added 14 points and 7 assists, while fellow transfer Aneesah Morrow had 6 points and 4 rebounds.
Angel Reese is taking her coach in her all-time starting five.
LSU basketball is tipping off its title defense against Colorado on Nov. 6 as part of the 2023 Hall of Fame Series. The four-game showcase, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is being held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ahead of the season opener, several Tigers stars shared their dream starting lineups, pulled from the illustrious list of Hall of Fame members.
“I’m starting strong with Lisa Leslie,” Reese said, before also naming Cheryl Miller, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to her roster. She pondered her fifth choice before opting for her head coach: “I need a shooter. I’m going with Kim Mulkey.”
Mulkey, 61, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020. She won three national titles as the head coach of the Baylor Bears, in 2005, 2012 and 2019, and she won her fourth career title with the LSU Tigers in April.
Flau’jae Johnson joined Reese in naming Mulkey to her lineup, and she added O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson.
Hailey Van Lith, meanwhile, put Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon in her starting five, while also naming Leslie, Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Michael Jordan.
“That’s a tough starting five, right there,” Van Lith said. “Mad tough.”
Let’s interview the @LSUwbkb team. 🎙️🏀#HOFSeries | #GeauxTigers | #HoophallU pic.twitter.com/i7q6gJi1Vt
— Hall of Fame Series (@hofseries) October 31, 2023
Angel Reese enters the 2023-24 NCAA basketball season as the clear star for defending champion LSU. But she’s more than happy to share the spotlight.
After the Tigers’ run to the NCAA Tournament title in April, they added two star transfers in Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith and DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow. They enter the upcoming season at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and as odds-on favorites to win another championship.
While Van Lith and Morrow could pull some attention (and some points and rebounds) from Reese, Reese is willing to take that trade-off.
“I wanted a superteam,” Reese told The Athletic. “They want greatness and I want greatness. They want a national championship and so do I. So why not do it all together?”
Reese joined LSU as a transfer from Maryland last offseason, and her first season with the Tigers outpaced every expectation. Reese set a single-season record with 34 double-doubles, including in all six NCAA Tournament games, en route to the program’s first national title.
Two questions hang over her senior season: Can LSU do it again with their reloaded roster? And is this Reese’s final hurrah, or will she stick around for an extra year?
She toyed with the possibility in a recent social media post, though she later added: “I love stirring the pot.” And she has talked about her WNBA ambitions, so while she has an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, what she will do next is anyone’s guess.
“Personally, I aspire to make it to the WNBA,” Reese said in September. “While I do have the option for another year, I do want to get out of college, start life outside of school, and pursue my WNBA dreams. It’s been a challenging but rewarding four years, and I’m excited to continue improving at LSU and beyond.”
playing with @thesarahstrong @JoyceEdwards24 and @JaloniCambridge my last year would be crazy right? 👀🫣 @iGREDUS
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) October 30, 2023
i love stirring the pot😭😂🤭this what i doooo
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) October 30, 2023