Who’s the subsequent star in girls’s faculty basketball?
This previous season’s rookie class supplied a couple of doable solutions.
Whereas a lot of the eyeballs on the game have been glued — and for good cause — to the likes of USC’s JuJu Watkins, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, there have been a couple of freshmen that stood out and helped their groups attain new heights. A few of them simply began to scratch the floor on what their potentials might be, whereas others piled up accolades, produced eye-popping stats or helped their squads win huge.
Michigan is an instance of a group with a very brilliant future because it had three standout rookies this previous season — Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mia Holloway — all of whom can be again for the Wolverines as sophomores. Collectively, the trio averaged 42.1 factors, 14.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists per recreation.
Others, like Gal Raviv, received’t be returning to the varsity the place they spent their rookie season. After averaging 17.9 factors, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists at Quinnipiac this yr, the 5-foot-9 guard from Israel will take a look at her abilities within the ACC after transferring to Miami.
As we barrel towards the 2025-26 season, let’s replicate on what a handful of gamers completed as rookies and take into consideration what they could have the ability to do subsequent.
These are the sophomores you could take note of heading into subsequent season.
Kourtney Grossman, Jap Washington
Amongst all freshmen throughout the nation final season, Grossman was the one one to common a double-double, posting 10.5 factors and 10.8 rebounds per recreation. She was fifth nationally in defensive rebounding, grabbing 8.5 of the opposite group’s misses per recreation. For her efforts, the 6-foot-1 ahead from Billings, Montana, was named Huge Sky Freshman of the Yr. Jap Washington completed with only a 9-20 document, however Grossman appears to be like like a participant this system can construct round for years to come back.
Kiyomi McMiller, Penn State
McMiller entered faculty with a ton of hype, ranked as a five-star prospect and one of many high 30 gamers within the 2024 class by ESPN. She was a Jordan Model All-American and flashed a few of her potential as a rookie at Rutgers, notching three double-doubles and scoring 25 factors or extra in a single recreation six instances. However a mid-season suspension turned McMiller’s freshman season right into a rocky one. She entered the switch portal with suitors from a number of main packages and in the end ended up at Penn State. The Nittany Lions went 10-19 final season and received only one recreation in Huge Ten play. They’re hoping McMiller will make them many extra victories.
Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova
The 5-foot-7 Canadian guard was the most effective freshmen within the Huge East this previous season and helped energy Villanova to an look within the WBIT semifinals. Bascoe was one in all simply two freshmen nationally who made no less than 2.5 free throws per recreation and shot north of 85 p.c from the charity stripe for the season. She averaged 16.2 factors, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per recreation for the Wildcats, doing just a little little bit of every part fairly nicely.
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State
A 5-foot-7 guard from Nashville, Tennessee, Cambridge began in all 29 video games she performed on this previous season for the Buckeyes, averaging 15.4 factors, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and a couple of.1 steals per recreation. She was named co-Huge Ten Freshman of the Yr and had a handful of standout performances, like when she tallied 33 factors and 5 assists in a February win over Michigan State.
Allie Turner, Gonzaga
Named an honorable point out All-American by the WBCA, there have been few shooters pretty much as good as Turner this previous season. She led all freshmen — and was eleventh nationally — in 3-pointers made per recreation with 3.0. Her 45.7 p.c success price from behind the arc was seventeenth nationally, and she or he additionally averaged 3.3 rebounds and three.6 assists per recreation. With Turner’s assist, Gonzaga made the quarterfinals of the WBIT.
DELANEY GIBB, byu
The Huge 12 Freshman of the Yr did every part for the Cougars this previous season, averaging 17.4 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per recreation whereas capturing 39.5 p.c from behind the arc. A 5-foot-10 guard from Canada, Gibb can be a participant BYU can construct round for the subsequent few seasons.
Toby Fournier, Duke
The 6-foot-2 Canadian ahead — well-known for her viral dunking highlights on social media — helped the Blue Devils win the ACC Match and advance to the Elite Eight for the primary time since 2013 this previous season. She was named ACC Rookie of the Yr whereas averaging 13.2 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per recreation. Fournier additionally shot 52.6 p.c from the ground and ranked thirty fourth nationally in PER.
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
The winner of the USBWA’s Tamika Catchings Award for the nation’s finest freshman, Blakes was completely field workplace this season and put Vanderbilt on the map. She led all freshmen — and was eighth nationally amongst all gamers — in scoring this season with 23.3 factors per recreation. Since 2009, Blakes is the one participant to attain 50 factors in a recreation twice as a freshman. With Blakes main the best way, the Commodores anticipate to be contending on the high of the SEC for the subsequent few seasons.
Sarah Sturdy, UConn
Nevermind the freshman designation — Sturdy was the most effective gamers within the nation this season and a serious cause why UConn was in a position to beat South Carolina and win its twelfth nationwide championship. Tabbed as the most effective recruit within the 2024 class, Sturdy lived as much as the hype by averaging 16.4 factors, 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per recreation. In any given recreation, Sturdy might be UConn’s finest scorer, rebounder, passer and defender.
A whole package deal of a participant, Sturdy ranked third within the nation in capturing proportion contained in the arc, making 68.3 p.c of her pictures from 2-point vary. She additionally led the nation in win shares (9.3) and defensive ranking (64.9). With Sturdy within the lineup, the Huskies anticipate to compete for a nationwide championship once more.
