October 23, 2023
Locked On Women’s Basketball: The Next’s 2023-24 college basketball Top 25 preview
By The Next
Host Missy Heidrick breaks down her preseason rankings
We are just a few weeks away from the start of college basketball and Missy Heidrick is here to dive into her Top 25 rankings on the latest episode of the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast.
Continue reading with a subscription to The Next
Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.
Already a member?
Login
Missy explains what factors she considered and where each team landed in her list from the defending champion Louisiana State Tigers to WNIT winner Kansas. Plus, she highlights the players who can make a big difference for their teams if they can stay healthy this year.
Missy started by explaining her process and how she decided that LSU would occupy the top spot in her poll.
“They are the number one in this preseason poll, and it’s very simple,” Missy said. “It was the first-ever women’s basketball national title for LSU. Kim Mulkey is just in her second year, she did a masterful job of blending that roster of returners as well as transfers and newcomers and they were able to do it. When you’ve got a player like Angel Reese who comes back as a junior All-American, she’s going to be leading this team but also the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year in Flau’jae Johnson.
“It’s also an incredibly packed transfer portal. Mulkey being able to go and take catapult yourself because of that national title, two of the top transfers in the country end up in Baton Rouge, and Hailey Van Lith, who comes from Louisville, and then the dynamic scorer and playmaker Aneesah Morrow from DePaul really was under the radar for a lot of people in her first year, not as much in her second year as a sophomore in Chicago, but she could be a difference maker in the SEC.”
Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine
Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.
UConn landed at No. 2 with 2021 National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers back and healthy.
“They’ve got great guard play and I think that they have one of the most improved posts in the nation with 6’3 senior Aaliyah Edwards,” Missy said. “She, along with some help inside that frontcourt will be incredibly important. They have got to be able to give backup to the back court when you talk about Bueckers and [Azzi] Fudd.”
To see Missy’s full Top 25 list, you can listen to the episode linked below or read her story that ran on Friday for The Next.
Make sure to subscribe to the Locked on Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about women’s college basketball, the WNBA, basketball history and much more!
