We are nearing the final weeks of the regular season and teams have either one or a couple of games left to play this coming week. Some have already started conference tournament play. Teams have started to clinch the regular season conference titles such as Stanford clinched the regular Pac 12 season title. Next week, the FINAL OVERALL Women’s College Basketball Players Rankings comes out, so stay tuned for that and make sure you are subscribed so that you can receive it via your inbox.
Listed below are the top 36 seniors, the top 27 juniors, the top 18 sophomores and the top 9 freshmen for the week of February 22nd to February 28th. You can view the previous week here. If this is the first time viewing the rankings, or you have questions, the FAQ page can help you out.
Welcome to the Greatest Women’s College Basketball Players Bracket Challenge presented by http://www.wbasketballblog.com! We have assembled the greatest women’s college basketball players starting from the year 1997 to 2020.
In order to be named as a player in this bracket challenge, there had to be a few criteria. First of all, all of the women’s college players listed played as a freshmen in 1997 or later. No players that played earlier than that were included, because there are so many great women’s college basketball players and there had to be a specific time frame. Second of all, no active players were included because they are still playing and making their college careers.
We assembled a selection committee made up of women’s basketball media, coaches, fans to come up with a top 64 of women’s college basketball players who fit the above criteria. To learn more about the selection committee, you can scroll down after the bracket to learn more about each member.
In our top 64, four players were named the #1 overall seeds. Breanna Stewart of Connecticut, Diana Taurasi of Connecticut, Maya Moore of Connecticut and Candace Parker of Tennessee. Breanna Stewart was named the #1 overall seed because she was named as the top player in most of the selection committee’s lists.
Voting will commence a few days from now and votes will be determined by the Twitter Polls we send out. The winner will be selected sometime in April.
The bracket can be viewed below. We hope you enjoy this challenge and make sure to let everyone know about it!
Women’s College Basketball Players Bracket Challenge (1997 to 2020)
Mel Greenberg has written for the Philadelphia Inquirer since 1970 where he covered college and professional women’s basketball. He helped pioneer national coverage of the sport and organized the first Top 25 women’s college basketball poll. He has been called “The Guru” of women’s basketball. In 1991, Greenberg received the first media award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, an award that has since been named after him. The annual Mel Greenberg Media Award is given to “a member of the media who has best displayed a commitment to women’s basketball and to advancing the role of the media in promoting the women’s game”. In 2007, Greenberg was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Katie Moore is a 37 year old stay at home parent of three living outside of Philadelphia, but she grew up in Virginia and Texas. She’s been a women’s basketball fan since the 1993-1994 season in which she started playing basketball herself. She loves all sports, but basketball is her passion. She wished she could’ve played in college, but being vertically challenged (5’3″) and not that athletic, she was forced to stick to watching and cheering. She graduated from Notre Dame.
Glenn Starkey has been following women’s college basketball since 2001 and has followed teams from the New York metro area. He started following the Rutgers women’s basketball team in 2001 to 2010 which quickly became into a fan of all of women’s college basketball. He moved to support the St.John’s women’s basketball team after 2010 as he lives a mile within an arena. He has developed relationships with various coaches of women’s college basketball and has supported several schools for the past 11 years. He works in insurance and supports the New York Liberty WNBA team and the Sky Blue soccer team in the summer.
Mary Carol Bond (Mac to her friends, she/her) is a lifelong women’s basketball fan, whose father loved March Madness and began to include women’s teams in the family tournament as soon as his daughters began to play the sport in the 80’s. Raised in Chicago on Notre Dame and DePaul, Mary Carol has lived for years on the Great Plains, and is now a Husker women’s basketball season ticket holder who is relied on to have the game scout for her entire section of Pinnacle Bank Arena, a frequent traveler to WNBA and NCAAW games all over the mid-west and when travel is safe again has promised herself that she will see a Final Four in person.
Craig Morancie has been a basketball fan since the 1980’s. He has done radio broadcasts for his college team (Georgetown) from 1984-1987 as well as Brooklyn College from 1993 to 1994.
Jaison coaches high school, club and AAU basketball. He coaches on the girls side. He is currently coaching the North Toronto Huskies basketball club, Havergal College and the Stanford University girls elite camp. In the summer, he also coaches with Ontario Basketball as part of the Ontario Summer Development Program and the Ontario Summer Games. He is also the head coach of the U14 girls team for the Toronto region. In 2020, he was awarded the Excellence in Coaching award from the Ontario Coaches Association in part for his work with women’s basketball.
Porter Hayes covers women’s sports at the University of Arkansas. He has been following women’s basketball for over 25 years. It started when his father was stationed in Connecticut for the Army. He started to watch the UCONN women’s basketball and fell in love with the game. He is married to a wonderful wife, Amber, for 5 years and has three boys, Danny (15), Elijah(11) and Gavin (11).
Current college student and women’s basketball fanatic, Colleen Couture began her love for professional basketball just a few years ago. She and her sister traveled from Vermont (her home state) to Tennessee to see the Lady Volunteers take down Ole Miss. Fast forward a few years, she has now been a sports writer since 2020 and typically covers the Tennessee Lady Volunteers but is also an avid fan of the WNBA. She writes for Global Women’s Sports Radio and is a free lance digital sports illustrator, @she.drawssports. When she finds free time away from college homework you can find her catching up on the latest stats from the game and reading biographies of women in sports.
Alexandria Miller lives in Westland, Michigan. Basketball was her first love. She plays junior college basketball. Women’s college basketball is seeing raw talent and that is why she enjoys watching every part of it.
Michael McManus is currently based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, originally from Bennettsville, South Carolina. He fell in love with women’s college basketball, when he watched Candace Parker defeat Candice Wiggins in the 2008 National Championship game. As time went on, he learnt more and more about the history of the sport and his fondness became a passion. You can usually find him watching any and every college game he can find on 4 devices at home.
We are nearing the end of the regular season and this week, many teams were upset within the AP Top 25. More cancellations and postponements happened after the Texas winter storm either cancelled or postponed games in or around the Texas area.
Listed below are the top 36 seniors, the top 27 juniors, the top 18 sophomores and the top 9 freshmen for the week of February 15th to February 21st.
If you would like to view the previous week, you may do so here. Questions? First time viewing the rankings? The FAQ page can help answer your questions.
Another week, another No. 1 team lost. South Carolina lost to Connecticut last Monday, which means we will have yet another No. 1 team this week. Some teams had their Senior night games last week and there were more cancellations and postponements and it’s going to get harder to reschedule or play the missed games as the regular season is winding down.
Listed below are the top 36 seniors, the top 27 juniors, the top 18 sophomores and the top 9 freshmen for the week of February 8th to February 14th. You can view the previous week here. Questions? First time viewing these rankings? The FAQ page can help you out.
SENIORS
Michaela Onyenwere – UCLA
Arella Guirantes – Rutgers
Dana Evans – Louisville
Aari McDonald – Arizona
Rennia Davis – Tennnessee
Deja Church – DePaul
Gabby Connally – Georgia
Kysre Gondrezick – West Virginia
Janelle Bailey – North Carolina
Kayla Jones – NC State
Destiny Pitts – Texas A&M
Mya Hollingshed – Colorado
Aaliyah Wilson – Texas A&M
Ali Patberg – Indiana
Sam Thomas – Arizona
Jenna Staiti – Georgia
Kiana Williams – Stanford
Bethy Mununga – South Florida
Nancy Mulkey – Rice
Que Morrison – Georgia
Gina Conti – Wake Forest
Ivana Raca – Wake Forest
Jenn Wirth – Gonzaga
Jill Townsend – Gonzaga
Brice Calip – Missouri State
Chloe Lamb – South Dakota
Natalie Chou – UCLA
Erin Whalen – Dayton
Tori Martell – Montana State
Anna McLeod – Abilene Christian
Alexus Dye – Troy
Cierra Hall – UC Davis
Kendall Bresee – Mount St. Mary’s
Willow Duffell – Marist
Ane Olaeta – California Baptist
Skyler Goodwin – Louisiana
JUNIORS
Grace Berger – Indiana
Naz Hillmon – Michigan
Shakira Austin – Ole Miss
Madi Williams – Oklahoma
Imani Lewis – Wisconsin
Sonya Morris – DePaul
Cate Reese – Arizona
Ashley Joens – Iowa State
Destanni Henderson – South Carolina
Rae Burrell – Tennessee
Myah Selland – South Dakota State
Charli Collier – Texas
Kianna Smith – Louisville
Nia Clouden – Michigan State
Leigha Brown – Michigan
Jasmine Franklin – Missouri State
Bianca Jackson – Florida State
Elizabeth Dixon – Louisville
Jasmine Dickey – Delaware
Sydni Harvey – South Florida
Elisa Pinzan – South Florida
Lexi Held – DePaul
Paiton Burckhard – South Dakota State
Ayana Emmanuel – Alabama State
Eboni Williams – Chattanoga
Olivia Nelson – Ododa – Connecticut
Elissa Cunane – NC State
SOPHOMORES
Ashley Owusu – Maryland
Diamond Miller – Maryland
Aliyah Boston – South Carolina
Haley Jones – Stanford
Zia Cooke – South Carolina
Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech
Lavender Briggs – Florida
Mackenzie Holmes – Indiana
Kierstan Bell – FGCU
Hanna Cavinder – Fresno State
Mimi Collins – Maryland
Jakia Brown – Turner – NC State
Jordan Nixon – Texas A&M
Kadi Sissoko – Minnesota
Nyara Sabally – Oregon
Charisma Osborne – UCLA
Dasia Young – UT Martin
Maggie Pina – Boston University
FRESHMEN
Paige Bueckers – Connecticut & Caitlin Clark – Iowa
It’s been one month since I published my first version of the WNBA Mock Draft and it is now time for the second version. A lot has changed since then. The top 2 draft picks now belong to Dallas instead of New York who held the 1st pick. The Dallas Wings suddenly now have a lot of picks in this draft, but who knows if they will keep them or they will give them away. Roster spots are at a premium now in the WNBA, so a ton of these players selected might get training camp invites only and may have to resort to playing overseas first or waiting for 7 day contracts, etc.
Some players increased their draft stock since last month and that is reflected in this second version of the 2021 WNBA Mock Draft. I will have two more versions of this WNBA Mock Draft, one that will be released in March and the final WNBA Mock Draft which will be released one week before the WNBA Draft takes place.
2021 WNBA Mock Draft Version 2.0
FIRST ROUND
Awak Kuier, Finland – Dallas Wings
The Dallas Wings have the top 2 picks and they should select the best player available which is now Awak Kuier of Finland. She recently played in Eurobasket qualifiers and played very well against some of the top European countries. She showed a variety of skills which should translate very well into the WNBA. Even if she does not show up this season, the Wings should select her and retain her draft rights until she does comes over.
2. Charli Collier, Texas – Dallas Wings
With the second pick, the Dallas Wings should select Charli Collier from Texas. She’s a local player and she’s played very well for Texas. She was my top pick last month, but she drops to the second pick this month because Kuier played extremely well for during Eurobasket qualifiers and is just a bit better than Collier at this point. She’s also younger than Collier, so she can grow and develop even more. This is not a knock on Charli Collier who is still a very good player and should give Dallas some help in terms of rebounding and a post presence.
3. Dana Evans, Louisville – Atlanta Dream
Dana Evans has increased her draft stock from last month due to her ability to effectively lead Louisville in late game situations. She has become the leader and has made so many clutch shots over the past month. Since Renee Montgomery announced her retirement, the Dream need a point guard and Dana Evans can fill that role off the bench.
4. Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas – Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever have not been lucky in terms of the lottery and in WNBA Free Agency, so why not add the best player still on the board in Chelsea Dungee? Chelsea Dungee is another player who increased her draft stock from last month and is quickly rising. She can be a spark plug for the Fever and can quickly become a fan favorite in Indiana with her style of play.
5. Aari McDonald, Arizona – Dallas Wings
Aari McDonald drops this month in my WNBA Mock Draft, but that’s not because of her, it’s just because other players stepped up since last month. Aari McDonald is a top 5 player and Dallas should draft her because she is a very good guard and can help Dallas off the bench with her scoring.
6. Arella Guirantes, Rutgers – New York Liberty
7. Rennia Davis, Tennessee – Dallas Wings
8. Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA – Chicago Sky
9. Natasha Mack, Oklahoma State – Minnesota Lynx
10. Kysre Gondrezick, West Virginia – Los Angeles Sparks
