Three freshmen stand out in NCAA women’s basketball Naismith Award semifinalist list

The GIST: The list of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Award — one of college hoops’ most prestigious MVP awards — dropped yesterday. The stand-outs? The only underclassmen: Three freshmen guards who already led their squads to conference tourney titles. Tough.

JuJu Watkins, No. 3 USC: Watkins’ February 2nd 51-point game broke the internet, but this hometown hero’s been putting up wild numbers all season long. She has almost twice as many points as USC’s next-best scorer as she’s broken record after record after record.

• The most impressive one? Most points as a freshman in NCAA Division I (DI) women’s history, a record previously held by No. 2 Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark. In fact, Clark’s the only player with more points per game (PPG) than Watkins this season. Elite company.

Hannah Hidalgo, No. 9 Notre Dame: While Watkins is a scoring machine, DI’s No. 3 PPG scorer Hidalgo is a firecracker on both sides of the court. She leads the division in steals with 147 (!!!) and trails only veteran forward Maddy Westbeld in rebounds for Notre Dame…despite being only 5-foot-6. The only thing more fun to watch than her drives to the rack is her infectious joy.

Madison Booker, No. 5 Texas: When junior guard Rori Harmon went down with a torn ACL in late December, the Longhorns called on Booker to step up, and Texas’ new star was born. The first freshman to win Big 12 Player of the Year led the Longhorns to a phenomenal season — and, maybe, a national No. 1 seed on Sunday.

• Booker’s known for protecting the ball in high-stakes games and (perhaps you’re sensing a pattern here) being an absolute bucket.

Zooming out: While these three young players’ seasons have stunned, their real test will be under March Madness’ spotlight, which rewards poise and experience. If they can keep their cool and run deep into the NCAA tourney, their superstardom will be set. And the future of NCAA women’s hoops? It’s bright AF.