It’s legacy-making time in college basketball. What players do over the next few weeks can put them in the NCAA tournament history book forever. From Cheryl Miller to Sheryl Swoopes, from Chamique Holdsclaw to Diana Taurasi, from Candace Parker to Breanna Stewart, from A’ja Wilson to Arike Ogunbowale, and from Aliyah Boston to Angel Reese, March has been a time for stars winning the ultimate championship.
But even standout players who don’t win the NCAA title can steal the show with great performances during March Madness, as Caitlin Clark did the past two seasons in leading Iowa to the national championship game.
This year, for those considered front-runners for national player of the year — USC’s JuJu Watkins, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and UCLA’s Lauren Betts — there is a chance to win their first national championship.
Other players’ goals might be to advance past the tournament’s first weekend, or to make their program’s first Final Four. Bottom line: We’re about to see the best of the best hoping to keep their seasons going as long as possible.
We ranked the best players in women’s college hoops in the preseason, and players have moved on and off the list since. But not at the top, where Watkins…
