Women’s college basketball All-America team: Madison Booker, Hannah Hidalgo and more

It’s a new era in college basketball. UConn champion Paige Bueckers graduated and USC guard JuJu Watkins will sit out the entire season to recover from a torn ACL, leaving a vacuum of star power at the top of the sport for the first time since 2020.

Yet, in some ways, what’s old is new. UConn enters the 2025-26 season as defending champions behind combo-forward Sarah Strong, who could take the women’s basketball world by storm, not unlike her Huskies predecessor Breanna Stewart a decade ago. Strong headlines this year’s preseason All-Americans at The Athletic. Our three-person voting panel selected six other players who made our two All-America teams last season, with Watkins and two graduating seniors as the only omissions.

Individually, our ballots exhibited more divergence, but collectively, we settled on a group of players with proven track records; three of them are already multi-time All-Americans, including the reigning scoring champion.

Surprises are bound to come. For now, here’s a look at The Athletic’s projections for the 10 best players in college basketball this season.

First team

Sarah Strong, UConn, sophomore forward

2024-25 stats: 16.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.3 spg, 1.7 bpg, 59 FG%, 39 3-PT%

Last season’s best freshman is this season’s best player. No huge shock there. Strong ended last season on a high note, putting up 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the national title game with an ease that made it look like she was playing in her high school gym with no one watching. It’s kind of wild to imagine her evolved game. But she’s older, more experienced and fitter as she enters Year 2 with the Huskies. It’ll be particularly exciting to watch her in two-player situations this season after spending part of her offseason playing with Team USA’s senior 3×3 team in the FIBA World Cup, gaining valuable international experience as well as reaping the benefits that come with playing that fast-paced, small-court style.

Lauren Betts, UCLA, senior center

2024-25 stats: 20.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.9 bpg, 65 FG%

The core of UCLA’s Final Four team returns, led by All-American Betts. The 6-foot-7 center is known for her efficiency around the hoop, which will be a hallmark of her game again this season. With the chip on her shoulder from falling short of a championship last season, she’ll enter her final season with an urgency that could push the Bruins. Opponents could throw two or three defenders at Betts, but with transfer portal addition Gianna Kneepkens — the best available 3-point shooter in the offseason market — Betts might find herself with even more room to operate in the paint, giving her more space to show off her game and one more shooter to help boost her already impressive passing.

Madison Booker, Texas, junior wing

2024-25 stats: 16.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 40 3-PT%

In her first two seasons, Booker was the Big 12 Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year and an All-American. Her game has made massive strides — notably, her 3-point shooting improved by a 10 percent clip between her freshman and sophomore seasons — but as a junior, look for Booker to become an even more consistent scorer. Texas will look a bit different this year, but with Booker, Rori Harmon and Kyla Oldacre all back, there should be enough consistency and comfort for Booker to take the necessary steps to get Texas even closer to an SEC title and a national championship appearance.

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame, junior guard

2024-25 stats: 23.8 ppg, 3.6 apg, 3.7 spg, 40 3-PT%

The Irish experienced a significant talent exodus, but Hannah Hidalgo should remain as productive as ever. A two-time ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, Hidalgo is a volume scorer who will have even more opportunities with the departures of Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, Liatu King and Maddy Westbeld. The junior guard improved her free-throw and 3-point percentages as a sophomore, making her one of the more efficient scorers despite standing at 5-6. She is also a defensive pest, leading the country in steals per game twice. Hidalgo has excelled in every role she has been given at Notre Dame; she’ll thrive as the leader of an undermanned squad, too.

Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt, sophomore guard

2024-25 stats: 23.3 ppg, 3.4 apg, 45.6 FG%

Blakes is a program-changer with a proven offensive dynamism. Despite being 5-8, she acclimated well as a freshman. She scored 23 points in 25 minutes in her debut and went on to score more than 50 points twice, including setting an NCAA single-game record for most points scored by a freshman (55). She led all freshmen in scoring and ranked second in the SEC and eighth nationally in points per game. Her robust resume already includes an AP third-team All-America honor. Blakes and junior forward Khamil Pierre were the only pair of teammates to average more than 20 points per game. With Pierre’s transfer to NC State, even more will be on Blakes’ shoulders, but she’s well-positioned to thrive.

Second team

Flau’jae Johnson, LSU, senior guard

2024-25 stats: 18.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 46.8 FG%, 38.3 3-PT%

Johnson’s offensive repertoire expanded as a junior when she grew into a bigger lead role. She was an effective pick-and-roll ballhandler and a nearly 40 percent spot-up shooter. On defense, Johnson was yet again tasked with guarding opponents’ best perimeter players. Johnson could have entered last year’s WNBA Draft, but she elected to return for her senior season to serve as the Tigers’ undisputed leader. LSU was busy in the transfer portal and added former South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, who is also poised to play a big role in her first season in Baton Rouge, but Johnson’s play will be LSU’s barometer. Johnson is vocal about wanting to win a championship as the team’s leader, and she’s poised to be among the country’s most elite players as she works to accomplish that goal.

Olivia Miles, TCU, graduate guard

2024-25 stats: 15.4 ppg, 5.8 apg, 1.4 spg, 40.6 3-PT%

Miles is one of the finest lead guards in the country, a three-time assist leader in the ACC, and she figured out her pull-up jump shot during the year she sat rehabbing her ACL. Put that type of shooter and playmaker into TCU coach Mark Campbell’s pick-and-roll system, and Miles will be stuffing the box score. After transferring to TCU from Notre Dame, she’ll have to learn some new teammates, but Clara Silva and Marta Suarez will be useful pick-and-roll partners while Maddie Scherr and Taylor Bigby provide 3-point spacing. Assuming the Horned Frogs continue their winning ways — and the Big 12 isn’t exactly stacked this year — Miles will earn national honors.

Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina, senior guard

2024-25 stats: 25.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 4.6 apg, 45.1 FG%

Latson is an advantage player who has been one of the country’s best pure scorers since she entered college three seasons ago. She topped the nation in scoring last year and led Florida State to its first NCAA Tournament win since 2019. Yet she transferred to South Carolina, where she is set up to immediately lift the Gamecocks’ offense. South Carolina lost several key contributors to pro ball, but Latson will provide an immediate boost. How productive she ends up being will likely come down to her workload. Latson averaged more than 30 minutes per game in two of her first three college seasons, but only one South Carolina player has averaged more than 30 minutes since 2021. Former Gamecocks star A’ja Wilson is also the last South Carolina player to take more than 15 shots per game, doing so in 2017-18. Latson has eclipsed that number in each of her three seasons.

Azzi Fudd, UConn, graduate guard

2024-25 stats: 13.6 ppg, 91.7 FT%, 43.6 3-PT%

The most outstanding player of the 2025 Final Four was the Huskies’ ceiling-raiser. Now, she’ll have to fill more of a primary scoring role with the departure of Bueckers to the WNBA. Fudd has always been one of the best shooters in the country, and that might be enough with Strong as the alpha, Serah Williams working the interior and secondary playmaking and scoring from the likes of KK Arnold and transfer Kayleigh Heckel. This placement for Fudd supposes that she’ll become more aggressive and well-rounded another year removed from her ACL tear.

Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss, senior forward

2024-25 stats: 16.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 44.4 FG%, 37.4 3-PT-%

McMahon is relentless, and her physicality on offense should be an immediate weapon for Ole Miss. Rebels fans hope that a change of scenery will help her efficiency, too. Although McMahon’s 3-point shooting was much improved last season, her overall field goal percentage dipped in her last two years at Ohio State. Defensively, McMahon must adjust to playing in a new system, and she has room to improve as a pick-and-roll defender. Still, she’s more than capable of leading Ole Miss into SEC title contention — and beyond — while also bumping her 2026 WNBA Draft stock.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Ole Miss Rebels, Vanderbilt Commodores, TCU Horned Frogs, Connecticut Huskies, LSU Lady Tigers, Texas Longhorns, Women’s College Basketball

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