The 2024-25 season of women’s college basketball is officially underway. After a year of record-breaking engagement that brought in a new audience, interest in women’s basketball is at a whole new level. Last season, Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark caught the attention of the nation with her daring three-point shots and her historical run in the NCAA March Madness Tournament with Iowa. Clark and many other stars of last year’s college basketball season like Angel Reese (LSU), Cameron Brink (Stanford), Aaliyah Edwards (UConn), Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina) and so many more are now moved on to the pros. So now who will be the new faces of this season of women’s college basketball?
Paige Bueckers, UConn
Paige Bueckers is not new to college basketball and has been one of the faces of the game since her breakout freshman season. Bueckers was the first freshman ever to win the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, Associated Press Player of the Year and USBWA Player of the Year awards. After her historic rookie season, where she led UConn to the 2021 Final Four and the NCAA championship game as a sophomore, Bueckers was sidelined for her whole junior season with an ACL tear. Bueckers made her comeback last season and lead UConn back to the Final Four in April. At the end of last season, Bueckers announced that her time at UConn was not done yet, and that she would return for her fifth and final season with the Huskies. She is chasing a national championship in her last go-around as a Husky. Bueckers is also projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. But as for right now, all eyes are on Bueckers and the Huskies for this season of college basketball.
JuJu Watkins, USC
JuJu Watkins lived up to the hype last year, coming into USC as the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 high school class. She brought USC back to relevancy, leading the team to their first Final Four appearance since 2016. Last season, Watkins set an NCAA Division I freshman record with 920 points. She effortlessly averaged 27.1 points per game, second only to Clark. Watkins shot 40.1% from the field overall and 31.9% from three. On top of her performance, Watkins brought a lot of attention to USC women’s basketball as celebrities started stopping by to see the 6 ‘2 guard in action. In just the second season of her collegiate career, Watkins is already one of the biggest faces in college basketball as she holds one of the largest NIL brands with sponsorships from major companies like Nike, Gatorade and NYX Professional Makeup.
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Another player who had a breakout season in her freshman campaign is Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo. She is an all-around player who made a huge impact for the Fighting Irish on all ends of the court. After averaging a nation-best 4.6 steals per game, Hidalgo broke the program’s record of 160 and became a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award. Another record that she set for Notre Dame was her scoring average of 22.6 points per game, ranking seventh in the nation. Entering her sophomore year, she is already among some of the Notre Dame greats. Hidalgo was also named one of the five best point guards in the country as a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman award. Now, she is back with the Fighting Irish and will make Notre Dame a huge threat in this season of college basketball.
Flau’jae Johnson, LSU
Flau’jae Johnson is multi-talented with her rapidly growing rap career, but also proved who she is on the court by earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors during LSU’s 2023 national championship run. She continued to prove her weight for the Tigers as she earned second-team all-SEC honors in her sophomore season. Last season in the NCAA Tournament, Johnson thrived as she averaged 20.5 points per game and shot 64.7percent from two and 42.9 percent from three. She was the spark that carried LSU to the Elite Eight. Johnson was awarded a spot on the Albany 2 All-Region team last March Madness. LSU will look a little different this season with Angel Reese now in the WNBA, but that only gives Johnson a chance to become a bigger face in women’s basketball.
Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
One of the more underrated players on this list is Georgia Amoore. She is one of the liveliest players in the nation, known for her step back three-point splashes. Amoore broke the NCAA Tournament three-point record for both men’s and women’s with 24 in a single game to lead Virginia Tech to the Final Four in 2023. In her senior season, she averaged 18.8 points per game and a career-high 41.2 percent clip and an ACC-best 6.8 assists per. Amoore has been compared to Becky Hammon as one of the best situational players in the game currently. Similar to Bueckers, Amoore was projected to be a first-round pick in the 2024 WNBA draft but opted to return for a fifth season . She had an instrumental role at Virginia Tech but decided to take her last year of eligibility to Kentucky to follow her former coach, Kenny Brooks. The Wildcats will compete in a deep SEC conference with teams like South Carolina, LSU, and Texas. But Amoore is equipped to take Kentucky to new heights, on top of being one of the faces of the game this season.