For the second year in a row, we’ve entered the women’s college basketball season with a returning senior who is the reigning consensus national player of the year. Will Iowa‘s Caitlin Clark repeat those honors?
Clark starts as the unanimous No. 1 in ESPN’s 2023-24 top 25 players rankings, which is where she finished last season. But she opened 2022-23 as No. 2. Just as she contested South Carolina‘s Aliyah Boston as national player of the year last season, Clark will face challengers this season.
UConn‘s Paige Bueckers, another former national player of the year, is back after missing last season with a knee injury. LSU senior Angel Reese is also expected to have another huge season, despite the Tigers’ surprising season-opening loss.
Virginia Tech‘s Elizabeth Kitley, like Clark a two-time conference player of the year who led her team to the Final Four last season, is one of several post players vying for the top 10 in our rankings.
We will update our rankings — as voted on by ESPN’s Michael Voepel, Charlie Creme and Alexa Philippou — throughout the season and NCAA tournament. And while there’s no freshmen in this initial top 25 — despite some impressive debuts this week, the rookies haven’t had a chance to really make their cases yet — they might appear on subsequent…
