Three of the five women’s basketball preseason All-Americans are sophomores

The GIST: With just 12 days until the season tips off, the preseason AP All-American list dropped yesterday, featuring some serious star power. From sophomore sensations to senior showstoppers, here’s who made the cut:

🐺 Paige Bueckers, UConn: From awards to injuries, it’s been a rollercoaster few seasons for Bueckers. What hasn’t happened? Winning that ever-elusive national title. The NIL darling averaged 21.8 points last season and will be chasing that championship in her last run with the Huskies before heading to the WNBA.

✌️ JuJu Watkins, USC: Remember when Watkins dropped 51(!!!) points in a single game last season? The AP voting committee certainly does. The LA gal averaged 27.1 points per game in her freshman campaign, second only to a little someone named Caitlin Clark. Decent company.

✌️ Kiki Iriafen, USC: What’s better than one All-American? Two, of course. Transfer student Iriafen joins fellow Trojan Watkins on the preseason list after an impressive junior season at Stanford. After entering the portal in the offseason, she’s bringing her 19.4 points and 11 rebounds per game down the road to Los Angeles.

☘️ Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame: From her quick hands to her smooth moves, Hidalgo gave opponents fits on defense and offense all year. She was the driving force for the Fighting Irish, recording 22.6 points and a jaw-dropping 4.6 steals per game. No luck here.

🐂 Madison Booker, Texas: Booker had an unexpected rise to stardom — the forward transitioned to point guard in place of an injured teammate last year. Turns out, she’s a natural, averaging 16.5 points and five assists per game.