Best Indiana Women’s Basketball Players Of The 2020s So Far: No. 3 Ali Patberg

In some ways, Ali Patberg belongs to an entirely different era of basketball than the one we’re in. On the other hand? She’s as 2020s as any player on the list.

The Columbus, Ind., native began her career in 2016. After one season playing for the Fighting Irish, Patberg transferred to Indiana.

She had to sit out a year – something today’s players don’t have to worry about – before Patberg made her Indiana debut in the 2018-19 season.

She was a contributor right away and when the 2020s dawned, Patberg was an established star.

Patberg had very few weaknesses in her game. She was an able scorer, never averaging less than 11.6 points in her Indiana career and peaking at 15.8 points in her first season.

Running the point, Patberg had 528 career assists, graduating as the third-best in school history. She averaged 4.3 assists per game over Indiana career.

Patberg was also a capable rebounder (4.2 per game during her Indiana career) and she converted 44.5% of her shots.

She started all 123 of the games she played at Indiana – and most important of all – Indiana won. In each of Patberg’s seasons, the Hoosiers increased their winning percentage or their win total. Indiana advanced to the Elite Eight in 2021 and the Sweet 16 in 2022 with Patberg playing a leading role.

In terms of honors, Patberg’s finest hour came in 2020 when she was a consensus All-Big Ten first-team player. She was a second-team selection in 2019 and 2021.

As far as qualification for the best of the 2020s, she rated second among qualifying 2020s players in win share average (5.13) and win share peak (7.1). She was third in scoring (13.7) and fourth in win share total (15.4).

Patberg’s efforts to play in the WNBA didn’t pan out. She was drafted 33rd overall by the Indiana Fever in 2022, but didn’t make the final roster.