Multiple Contributors
Mar 13, 2025, 11:00 AM ET
Few things better demonstrate the state of women's college basketball than the debate about the best of the best. There was plenty of that as ESPN's writers voted on their picks for player of the year, coach of the year, All-America teams and other honors for 2024-25.
While last season's national player of the year campaign was a victory lap for Iowa's Caitlin Clark, this year was more of a race -- although Michael Voepel, Charlie Creme, Alexa Philippou and Kendra Andrews ended up with a unanimous pick.
Last season's freshman class was outstanding, and so was this season's. But again, one player got all the votes.
Coach of the year? Much tougher, as strong cases could be made for multiple candidates in a season in which four teams held the Associated Press No. 1 ranking.
So with Selection Sunday looming, ESPN looks at the standouts this season.
More coverage:
Bracketology | Champ Week: Auto bids | NCAA tournament schedule | Women's Tournament Challenge
Player of the Year: JuJu Watkins, USC Trojans
Watkins was a revelation last year as a freshman, and might have won national player of the year had she not been overlapping with Clark. This year's race had several strong candidates -- including Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, who was the midseason front-runner. But Watkins separated herself down the stretch with outstanding play in some of USC's biggest games, helping the Trojans earn their first regular-season conference crown since 1994 (not to mention in their first year in a new league).
Compared to last season, Watkins has more help around her in Kiki Iriafen and a strong freshman class. Still, it came with its own challenges of learning how to play alongside an almost entirely new cast following last year's Elite Eight run. But Watkins remains the centerpiece and heartbeat for a Trojans team that is 28-3 on the year, its most recent defeat coming March 9 in the Big Ten tournament championship game.
She hasn't had to score as much as last year, and due to her improvement in reading defenses, Watkins' efficiency is up, turnovers are down and she's able to exert herself even more on the defensive end. No performance this season was more stunning than her 38-point, 11-rebound, 8-block and 5-assist effort against UCLA in their first meeting in February.
Watkins looks poised to deliver the Trojans their first consecutive No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament since Cheryl Miller's tenure, and she has her sights set on something else that USC last accomplished with Miller: hanging a national championship banner in the Galen Center. -- Philippou
Coach of the Year: Cori Close, UCLA Bruins
This was our toughest category, because there were several strong candidates, including South Carolina's Dawn Staley, Texas' Vic Schaefer, TCU's Mark Campbell and Kentucky's Kenny Brooks, among others. But Close has guided the Bruins to a 30-2 record -- the first 30-win season in program history -- with the only losses to crosstown rival USC. The Bruins responded to those defeats by beating the Trojans in the title game of the Big Ten tournament.
The Bruins had a 15-point early-season win at home over defending champion South Carolina. Then UCLA navigated its move to a new conference well, and spent the most time (12 weeks) of any team this season ranked No. 1 in the polls. Having started the season 23-0, the Bruins didn't lose their first game until Feb. 13 at USC.
After falling to LSU in the Sweet 16 last season, the Bruins are looking to make the Final Four for the first time in the NCAA era. -- Voepel
Freshman of the Year: Sarah Strong, UConn Huskies
Strong came to UConn as the No. 1 recruit in the nation and has exceeded the hype, garnering comparisons to former Huskies greats Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart. She's listed as a 6-foot-2 forward but is a Swiss Army knife, registering second on the team in scoring (16.0 PPG) and assists (3.4 APG), first in rebounds (8.4 RPG), steals (2.4 SPG) and blocks (1.6 BPG) and tied for third in 3-pointers made (46). And she has shown up against top competition, too, from dropping a career-high 29 points against Iowa State to recording a 22-point, 13-rebound, 5-assist, 4-steal performance against USC.
Coach Geno Auriemma has been imploring Strong recently to play like she's one of the best players in America. And if that version of her shows up in March/April, the Huskies might be cutting down the nets in Tampa. -- Philippou
Transfer of the Year: Georgia Amoore, Kentucky Wildcats
This isn't an MVP award, but this season there haven't been many players in the country more valuable to their teams than Amoore has been to Kentucky. Her transfer from Virginia Tech to Kentucky along with coach Kenny Brooks transformed the program. The Wildcats were a combined 24-38 the past two years, with 12th- and 14th-place finishes in the SEC. In an even deeper SEC following the additions of Oklahoma and the Texas Longhorns, and as the leader of a team with 11 new players, Amoore propelled Kentucky to a fourth-place finish and 22 wins.
Despite being the defense's primary focus on every possession, Amoore averaged a career-high 19.1 points on 42.5% shooting. Her 6.9 assists were good for third in the country. Amoore just edged TCU's Hailey Van Lith, who had the best season of her five-year career and won Big 12 player of the year. -- Creme
0:19
TCU defeats Baylor to win the Big 12 championship
TCU takes home the Big 12 championship with a 64-59 win over Baylor.
Biggest Surprise: TCU Horned Frogs
Just two years ago, the Horned Frogs were 1-17 in Big 12 play. Last season, the first at TCU for coach Mark Campbell, the Frogs started strong but got so low on numbers because of injuries that they held open tryouts to fill out the roster. They finished 6-12 in the Big 12, having to forfeit two games because they didn't have enough players.
To start this season, TCU wasn't in the AP Top 25, and the Frogs were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12. Instead, they won the league regular-season (16-2) and tournament titles for the first time, led by Van Lith and center Sedona Prince. At 31-3, the Frogs will make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010. -- Voepel
Biggest Disappointment: Iowa State Cyclones
It's an unfortunate tag to give to a program that, over the past 30 years, has overachieved much more than underachieved. However, the Cyclones weren't the team many expected this season. They were ranked No. 8 in the AP preseason poll, but finished seventh in the Big 12 -- despite having the league's scoring leader, Audi Crooks (23.2 PPG), and No. 2 player in assists, Emily Ryan (6.3 APG).
On the bright side, the Cyclones' six losses in Big 12 regular-season play were to fellow teams headed to the NCAA tournament, as was their league tournament quarterfinal loss. At 22-11, Iowa State didn't have a bad season, just not the season that was projected. -- Voepel
0:28
Bueckers passes Taurasi on UConn's all-time scoring list
Paige Bueckers knocks down a jumper to surpass Diana Taurasi for ninth on UConn's all-time scoring list.
All-Americans
First Team
Lauren Betts, UCLA: Betts has been a dominant force for UCLA on both ends of the floor, being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the league tournament's Most Outstanding Player. -- Andrews
Paige Bueckers, UConn: Bueckers continues to make history, most recently becoming the first player to be named Most Outstanding Player of the Big East tournament three times, finishing the championship game with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Next on her agenda: win her first NCAA title. -- Andrews
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame: Hidalgo had an electric start to the season, and while her productivity and efficiency slowed as the conference tournament approached -- and her Irish lost in the ACC tournament final -- she has been one of the most explosive scorers all season. -- Andrews
Aneesah Morrow, LSU: The Tigers' second-leading scorer (18.5 PPG), Morrow leads Division I in rebounding (13.6) and doubles-doubles (27). She has 101 career double-doubles -- second in Division I history only to Oklahoma's Courtney Paris (128) -- and was on the All-SEC first team and all-defensive team. -- Voepel
JuJu Watkins, USC: A front-runner to win national player of the year, Watkins has propelled USC into title contention in her second year with the program. She is on pace to break Caitlin Clark's record for most points scored in NCAA tournament history (492). -- Andrews
Second Team
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt Commodores: Blakes' pair of 50-point games were two of the most notable performances by any player this season, and her 26.3 points per game average in conference play led the SEC. -- Creme
Madison Booker, Texas: The SEC player of the year -- after being co-Big 12 player of the year as a freshman in 2023-24 -- Booker led the Longhorns in scoring (16.2) and ranked second on the team in rebounds (6.6), assists (2.8) and steals (1.6). -- Voepel
Ta'Niya Latson: Florida State: The junior guard is the Division I leader in scoring average (24.9 PPG), leads the Seminoles in assists (4.7) and is tied for the lead in steals (2.2). She has scored 30 or more points in seven games this season. -- Voepel
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame: Fully recovered from the knee injury that cost her the 2023-24 season, Miles had her best season statistically, became a greatly improved shooter (40.9% on 3-point shooting) and led the ACC in assists (5.9 APG). -- Creme
Sarah Strong, UConn: Expectations for Strong were high as she began her first year at UConn. But she proved to be the No. 2 that Bueckers and the Huskies needed. She has quickly become one of the country's best players and a key to potentially getting UConn another title. -- Andrews
2:24
Vandy's Mikayla Blakes drops 55 to break D-I freshman scoring record
Mikayla Blakes takes over against Auburn, scoring 55 points to set the D-I freshman scoring record.
All-Freshman Team
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State: The No. 2 recruit in the country behind Strong, Cambridge was the Buckeyes' point guard from day one, played a key role in their press and, with 15.4 points and 3.9 assists per game, might have been Ohio State's most valuable player. -- Creme
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina: Edwards did something that neither A'ja Wilson or Aliyah Boston did -- leading South Carolina in scoring as a freshman (13.2 PPG) despite starting only one game. She got better as the season wore on and has scored in double figures in all but one game in the past month. -- Creme
Sarah Strong, UConn
Syla Swords, Michigan: The Canadian made her presence known in her first college game, with 27 points and 12 rebounds against South Carolina. She and fellow freshman Olivia Olson had near identical season stats as they led the Wolverines to a tie for fifth in the Big Ten. -- Voepel
