Women’s basketball has never had more parity or been more exciting, and leading the charge in all of this is the fact that the talent at the top of the college game is better than ever. Take this season alone: There is no de facto best player. Two players are not just great but potentially generational (and as the season progresses, there likely will be arguments for another two to three players in this debate). That means selecting players for the preseason All-America first team was difficult, but so was choosing for the second team.
The caveat here is that it’s subjective. Even if we organized the best guards and forwards in America, it would be nearly impossible given how much positionless basketball is played and each team’s different needs from each player at her position. Taking all that into account, The Athletic broke down its ranking of the 20 best players heading into this season, including not just our reasoning for why they’re so dangerous but also that of game scouts for coaches who faced each player last season.
We’ll look at spots 20-11 on Wednesday. Thursday, we’ll unveil the top 10.
Iowa, 5-foot-10 senior guard
Key stats (Villanova): 23.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.9 SPG
