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UConn’s Paige Bueckers, USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo headline the preseason watch list for the Naismith Women’s Player of the Year.
With two-time winner Caitlin Clark plying her trade in the WNBA, the field is wide open.
Bueckers was the Naismith recipient as a true freshman in 2020-21, before injuries limited her as a sophomore and then wiped out her entire 2022-23 season. Now, the Huskies guard will have some stiff competition for the top individual trophies.
Watkins was the second-leading scorer in Division I behind Clark with 27.1 points per game. She set a program record when she put up 51 in an upset of Stanford this past February.
With the additions of Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen through the transfer portal, the Trojans have a stronger roster around Watkins compared to last year. She shouldn’t have the highest usage rate in the country (42.8 percent), per Her Hoop Stats.
As much as that might hurt Watkins’ production, she’ll undoubtedly benefit from the way in which Iriafen and Von Oelhoffen will command the attention of opposing defenses.
Hidalgo was another freshman sensation. The Fighting Irish guard was a two-way terror, averaging 22.6 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals. Her 160 steals were the fourth-most in a Division I season since 1987-88.
The bulk of last year’s squad is back for Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey, and she’ll have Olivia Miles in the lineup after the star guard recovered from her torn ACL.
Should the Fighting Irish perform up to expectations, Hidalgo will be vying for all of the top individual awards alongside Bueckers and Watkins.
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