25 women's college basketball players to watch in 2023-24

We'll get to the star of the Virginia Tech show, but Amoore can more than hold her own within the confines of her team and nationally. A two-time All-ACC first-team performer, the Aussie is coming off a strong junior season, setting career highs for average points (16.3), assists (4.9), and rebounds (3.0) in helping the Hokies make their first Final Four appearance. Amoore also became the first Virginia Tech player to post a triple-double with 24 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds against Nebraska on Dec. 1, 2022. 

As a freshman in 2020-21, Brink helped Stanford win a national championship. Fast forward to this fall, and Brink is now the undisputed leader for the Cardinal, who are ranked an uncharacteristic 15th in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 but expected to contend with UCLA and Utah for the Pac-12 title this season. In addition to being one of the game's top defensive players, who averaged nearly 3.5 blocks last season, the 6-4 Brink displayed her offensive prowess in 2022-23, when she averaged 15.1 points, 9,6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.

One of the biggest storylines on the 2023-24 women's campaign is the return of Bueckers. In 2021, Bueckers became the first freshman named Naismith Player of the Year for averaging 20.0 points and shooting 52.4 percent. It was a remarkable start for the highly touted prospect, who seemed ready to take the college game by storm. However, her sophomore season lasted just 17 games due to a lateral meniscus tear and tibial plateau fracture. Bueckers then sat out all of 2022-23 after tearing the ACL in her left knee. Now, the Bueckers' vengeance tour is here, and all accounts state that she's healthy, focused, and determined to once again dominate for the Huskies. 

Aliyah Boston has taken her stardom to the WNBA, but the Gamecocks are still an extremely talented, top-10 team to begin the season. At the forefront entering the 2023-24 campaign is the 6-foot-7 Cardoso, who appears poised to step up her game after being honored as the SEC's Sixth Woman of the Year in 2022-23. During her second season at South Carolina, after she started at Syracuse, Cardoso averaged 9.8 points on 56 percent shooting and a career-high 85 rebounds for one of the greatest teams not to win a national title in women's college basketball history. 

Princeton is considered the best team in the Ivy League, and Chen is starting to shed that underrated label for some serious national attention. She enters the 2023-24 season on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Preseason Watch List. After helping the Tigers upset No.6 seed Kentucky in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Chen averaged 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists last season to earn Ivy League Player of the Year. For those casual fans of women's college basketball, make it a point to catch Chen in action.

In lock-step with LSU superstar Angel Reese for college basketball's "It" girl. Clark is the reigning Naismith Player of the Year and will try to become the first woman to repeat that honor since Breanna Stewart's three-year run from 2014-'16. An NIL darling, Clark has already earned legendary status. She surpassed the 2,000-point mark in her 75th career game and is only the second player in Iowa history to score at least 2,500 points. Clark is the second player in Big Ten history with more than more than 2,000 points, 550 assists, 520 rebounds, 110 steals, and 40 blocks. While helping the Hawkeyes reach the NCAA final in 2022-23, Clark averaged 27.8 points on 47.3 percent shooting, 8.6 assists, and 7.1 rebounds. 

As noted, plenty of attention will be thrown in Paige Bueckers' direction, but UConn is far from a one-woman show. Edwards is coming off a strong 2022-23 season, during which she averaged 16.6 points and a career-high 9.0 rebounds while being named a First-Team All-Big East performer and the league's Most Improved Player. Now, it's possible Edwards' offensive production could be downsized some due to Bueckers' presence. However, she does many things well, so expect Edwards' impact to remain high as the Huskies eye a return to the top of the women's basketball world.

Sticking with the Huskies. With Fudd, obviously, health will be the key to her success. Last season, knee issues limited her time to just 13 games. However, she averaged 15.0 points in those contests. Fudd has played just 38 games in two UConn seasons, so perhaps her true potential has yet to be fulfilled, which the Huskies hope could be achieved this season. She's a 45.1-percent shooter for her career and shot 43 percent from 3-point range as a freshman in 2021-22 when she averaged 12.1 points through 25 games. 

The 5-6 dynamo has become a fan favorite during her two seasons with the Longhorns. She plays hard, sometimes too much, so turnovers plague her production. That said, the two-time AP honorable mention All-American was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season when she also set a school record by averaging 7.4 assists. Harmon also became the fourth player in Texas history to record a triple-double — posting 17 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds versus TCU on Jan. 4, 2023. With another season to mature on her side, Harmon could be more fun to watch in 2023-24.

The only Indiana woman to earn First-Team All-American honors, Holmes is back for a fifth season and leading a talented group aiming to claim the coveted Big Ten championship. A career 63.5-percent shooter, who has twice averaged more than 30 points, is also one of the country's top defensive players. Holmes is coming off a stellar first senior season from 2022-23 when she set career highs of 30.8 points and 68 percent shooting. Holmes also pulled down 7.3 boards per game and averaged nearly 2 blocks, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 steals.

Coming off a highly productive debut season at Tennessee in 2022-23 (after transferring from Mississippi State), Jackson has the talent for potentially more individual success this time. An AP preseason honorable mention All-America, Jackson averaged 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists last season, when she also shot a career-best 54.8 percent from the field. Tennessee opens the season ranked 11th in the AP. If Jackson remains on her game and gets some consistent help from her supporting cast, Tennessee could hang with LSU and South Carolina in the SEC title race.

One of the bigger surprises during the offseason was Kitley's decision to return for a fifth year at Virginia Tech. One of the game's best paint performers, who also boasts a solid shooting touch, the 6-foot-6 Kitley averaged 18.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks last season while winning ACC Player of the Year for the second time and helping the Hokies reach their initial Final Four. It will be interesting to see what Kitley, the program's all-time leader in points (2,048), made field goals (831) and blocks (271), has for an encore.

Is it fair to think Latson can top her exceptional freshman season? We wouldn't want to bet against her. Latson led all freshmen, averaging 21.3 points last season, and set an ACC freshman scoring record with 659 points. Her seven games of at least 30 points are a single-season school record, and she scored 20 or more in 14 consecutive contests — the second-longest streak in men's or women's NCAA college basketball history. In addition, Latson shot 45.5 percent from the field and 85.9 percent at the free-throw line. She also averaged 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals.

The plan is for Lee to play this season after sitting out the 2022-23 campaign with knee issues. Exactly when remains to be seen. However, the anticipation for Lee's return is off the charts among KSU fans. Among the school records that Lee holds are the highest career scoring average (19.1 ppg), career rebound average (10.2), single-season average rebounds (11.4), single-season average blocks (3.1), and an NCAA-record 61 points in a game. The 6-6 Lee is a three-time All-Big 12 first-team selection and the second Wildcat with 1,600 or more points, 850 or more rebounds, and 225 or more blocks.

Hailing from New Zealand, Leger-Walker, aka " Legend-Walker," has scored more than 1,400 points during her three seasons at Washington State. Last season, she earned honorable mention All-American recognition from The Associated Press for averaging 17.7 points and shooting a career-best 34.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Leger-Walker was also named Most Outstanding Player at the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament, where she scored an event-record 76 points in four games while helping the upstart Cougars win their first tourney title.

Another player on this list looking to build on a highly successful freshman season. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year for 2022-23, Littlepage-Buggs averaged 10.6 points on 52-percent shooting and a team-leading 9.2 rebounds, with an impressive 14 double-doubles in 33 games, including 21 starts. The belief around the Bears women's program is that Littlepage-Buggs can be even better in 2023-24. She's more experienced and confident, all while trying to re-elevate the Baylor program back to prominence. 

The Buckeyes are ranked seventh in the preseason AP Poll, and McMahon is a major reason for that accolade. She earned preseason All-American honorable mention honors following a truly special rookie season, averaging 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.6 steals to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a second-team all-league performer. Now, the cat is out of the bag when it comes to McMahon's notoriety. However, she has the talent to be even better while trying to help Ohio State make a deep postseason run.

It was gut-wrenching to watch Miles miss the postseason in 2023 because of a knee injury. It's uncertain when Miles will return to the court this season. Miles, the true heart and soul of the Irish, is coming off a career 2022-23 season where she averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 2.1 steals as an All-ACC First-Team performer and Second-Team All-American by The Associated Press. The truth is that Notre Dame is a different team without Miles, who plays as hard, if not harder, than anybody else in the country.

The rich get richer with the addition of Morrow, who averaged 25.7 points (ranked fourth in the nation) and 12.2 rebounds (seventh in the country) with DePaul last season. However, after two standout seasons with the Blue Demons (averaging 23.8 points and 13.0 rebounds while posting 53 double-doubles in 66 career games), the Chicago native has taken her act to Baton Rouge. While the spotlight will be brighter, Morrow is expected to step right in and help the Tigers try on their quest to repeat as national champions.

Osborne believes something special can happen in Westwood this season. So much so that she opted to return to school and be part of what she hopes is a long postseason run for a Bruins squad that boasts the top-rated recruiting class in the nation, got a steal in Stanford transfer Lauren Betts, and opens ranked fourth in the AP Poll. Osborne, meanwhile, proved to be the only Pac-12 player last season to lead her team in average scoring (15.9 ppg), rebounding (5.9), and steals (1.4) en route to earning all-conference honors. Barring any setbacks, Osborne should reach the 2,000-point mark this season.

This is a nice get for Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks. Paopao comes to South Carolina from Oregon, where she was honored as a two-time First-Team All-Pac-12 performer (2021, '22). During her three seasons with the Ducks, Paopao averaged 12.5 points while shooting 38 percent from 3-point range and 3.6 assists. That experience should play well for the Gamecocks, especially having an established guard and ball-handler managing the tempo. It will be interesting to see how much more Paopao excels under Staley's guidance.

After spending three seasons at USC, Pili made a sensational first impression as a Ute in 2022-23. The 6-2 Pili enjoyed success with the Trojans but established herself as one of the game's best after transferring to Utah, where she was named Pac-12 Player of the Year for averaging 20.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1 steal last season. Seemingly almost impossible to guard, the physical yet fluidly impactful Pili could be even better this season as she continues to fine-tune her overall game.

One of the genuine personalities in the women's college game, Reese is confident and brash and can totally back it up. Last season, Reese averaged an SEC-best 23 points, plus 15.4 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.5 blocks, and a Division I-leading 34 double-doubles in helping LSU win its first national title in her first run with the Tigers after transferring from Maryland. She and Caitlin Clark are the current poster girls in college basketball. They should compete for the various national player of the year awards and with their respective teams for the national championship once again.

The well-traveled Taylor comes to Ohio State after stops at Texas and Duke. And she certainly has the potential to help a deep Buckeyes team seriously challenge for a Big Ten title. Taylor averaged 11.4 points during her previous four seasons, but what she does without the ball is of elite value to her team. Taylor was the 2022-23 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals for her career. It's uncertain what Taylor's offensive numbers will look like with the Buckeyes, but they know she'll be among the best defenders in the country.

Aneesah Morrow is not the only high-caliber transfer to saddle up at LSU. After three seasons starring at Louisville, where she scored 1,553 points and helped lead the Cardinals to the 2022 Final Four, Van Lith was the prize of this offseason transfer portal. Last season, Van Lith joined the aforementioned Cailin Clark as the only major-conference players to average at least 19 points (19.7), four rebounds (4.5), and three assists (3.2). Now, it's still being determined if there will be enough of the ball to go around for Van Lith to repeat that type of production with the star-studded Tigers, but her presence and experience can only help the cause.