In a competitive conference, these freshmen are already making a name for themselves.
After the 2023-24 Big Ten season, there was a group of departing seniors featuring players who grabbed the attention of the entire sport, made it onto WNBA starting lineups and left teams wondering who was stepping in to key roles.
With three and a half weeks of the NCAA women’s hoops season down, teams across the now 18-team conference are relying on freshmen.
Here are the top 10 freshman in the 2024 class, playing from coast-to-coast.
24-25 Stats: 11.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, .8 assists
In the offseason, head coach Katie Gearlds lost Big Ten Freshman of the Year forward Mary Ashley Stevenson to the transfer portal, as she moved on to play at Stanford. It didn’t take Gearlds long to find someone else to monitor the paint, as she brought in 6-foot-4 forward Lana McCarthy, who brings more scoring and rebounding than the previous starting forward.
McCarthy is physical and requires help to defend against most teams. It’ll be interesting how she plays going up against Alexis Markowski of Nebraska and Lauren Betts of UCLA, but so far McCarthy’s become an outlet for the Boilermakers on the perimeter.
24-25 Stats: 9.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.0 assist
Guard Kayleigh Heckel started this season coming off the bench for head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, but due to a potentially long-term injury to a fellow freshman on this list, she’s thrust into the starting lineup.
Heckel needs time to adjust to the additional responsibility, but the guard is a two-way player who can force steals defensively and find space to move offensively. Heckel has teammates like JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen, so if her passing improves she’ll become a more complete guard for the Trojans.
24-25 Stats: 14.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists
Britt Prince already had big shoes to fill with Australian Jaz Shelley graduating at the end of the 23-24 season, but the size of the sneakers jumped when sophomore Natalie Potts went down with a season-ending ACL injury against North Alabama.
So far, the signs show that Prince is up for a challenge. In the first game after Potts’ injury, Prince had an early career high 20 points and added six rebounds. The guard is a midrange shooter but at 5-foot-11 she also moves into the paint, using her speed as a high school track star to get behind the defense.
24-25 Stats: 10.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists
Ann Arbor, Michigan is basically the freshmen capital of the world this season.
The Wolverines feature three fantastic first year players who could put Michigan back in the conversation at the top of the conference for the first time since forward Naz Hillmon left in 2022.
Leading that group from point guard is Mila Holloway. In six games this season, the guard has at least four assists in all but one game, tied for the second most assists per game for a freshman and seventh overall in the Big Ten overall.
Holloway will pass first but finds open spaces on the court to shoot, although she’s at only a 33.3 percent from the floor. Fortunately, the Wolverines have other players who are picking up the scoring and then some.
24-25 Stats: 15.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists
Michigan lost five of its top six scorers from last season, with some graduating and others leaving the program. Olivia Olson came in and already is filling the scoring hole of all but one.
Olson is the leading scorer for head coach Kim Barnes Arico’s Wolverines inside the arc, attempting 10.3 two-point attempts per game, hitting six. The guard does it through midrange shooting, shooting like former Big Ten guard Grace Berger from the Indiana Hoosiers.
While the deep shooting isn’t going to take over a game, Olson doesn’t have to with Jordan Hobbs and another outstanding Michigan freshman.
24-25 Stats: 17.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists
Teams need to score points to win, and guard Kiyomi McMiller does that in droves.
Playing next to outstanding junior Destiny Adams, McMiller gets space to shoot and can do it from all three levels. McMiller’s ball handling gives her room to move and can stop on a dime and hit a midrange basket or go to rim.
Rutgers has catching up to do in the conference, ending the last three seasons no better than 11th in the conference, but with McMiller and Adams there’s a chance that the Scarlet Knights can move up the standings.
In the third season under Coquese Washington, McMiller and the Scarlet Knights won their first four games of the season for the first time in her short tenure.
24-25 Stats: 12.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.8 assists
Recruited out of Finland, guard Elina Aarnisalo could score, and score a lot. In the 2024 U20 Eurobasket, Aarnisalo was third in the tournament with 18.2 points per game, playing against the best youth players on the continent.
Coming to UCLA, with three of the Bruins’ top scorers returning, Aarnisalo’s become one of the best passers in the conference. The freshman is second in the Big Ten with 6.8 assists per game, behind only Northwestern's Caroline Lau, and still sitting second on the roster with 12.6 points per game.
The bright lights of Los Angeles aren’t too bright either. Aarnisalo had 13 points and four assists in Sunday’s win over then No. 1 ranked South Carolina, a place in the rankings now held by Aarnisalo and the Bruins.
24-25 Stats: 10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists
Look strictly at the statistics and there are many freshmen out-producing USC guard Kennedy Smith, but stats aren’t close to telling the story.
Miss Basketball California for 23-24, Smith joined her former in-state opponent Watkins to become part of one of the most formidable rosters in the country. Making Smith so dangerous is her play on both sides of the court.
Not as prolific of a scorer as Watkins, Smith still produces offensively, moving into the paint and hitting baskets. Defensively, coach Gottlieb called Smith the best defensive freshman she’s ever recruited. Smith sits fourth in the conference in defensive rating, averaging 64.0 points per 100 opponent possessions.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, and fans of good basketball, Smith is out for an undetermined amount of time due to an undisclosed surgery. The guard’s absence was clear when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish came to Los Angeles on Saturday, defeating the Trojans soundly as USC had trouble adjusting in their first game without the starting freshman.
24-25 Stats: 18.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists
Ranking the freshman of the Big Ten gets more difficult as the list gets to the top talent of the conference. Michigan guard Syla Swords has been better than advertised. Becoming the youngest member of the Canada national team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Swords carried that experience and an all-around game to the first night of the season against the top team in the nation.
Against the South Carolina Gamecocks, Swords led the Wolverines with 27 points and 12 rebounds in a game many expected to be a rout for head coach Dawn Staley’s side. Instead, Swords hit a deep three-point shot in the last minute to bring the game to a single possession.
South Carolina ended up winning, but a Michigan side with three freshmen starting grabbed attention. Swords’ outstanding play continued since that early defeat, averaging 17 points in the next five games, plus seven rebounds and four assists. Swords shoots from beyond the arc, cleans up around the basket and goes at opposing defenses.
24-25 Stats: 17.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists
Looking at the top freshmen in the conference, what the best players have over others is how they hold their composure on the court. For some it takes time but for players like Swords and Jaloni Cambridge, it’s already there in abundance.
Cambridge debuted with a 31-point performance, the best freshman debut in program history, plus six rebounds, six assists and five steals.
The guard is arguably the quickest player in the Big Ten, if not the country. Cambridge is playing in head coach Kevin McGuff’s havoc-inducing press like fifth year senior Jacy Sheldon, who’s now in the WNBA. The defense hasn’t slowed down with the change to Cambridge.
Offensively, a moment proving composure is in Ohio State’s close win against the Belmont Bruins. Cambridge went 1-of-9 to start the game, a far cry from her 85.7 percent debut, but in the last minute it didn’t matter.
McGuff gave Cambridge the keys to drive the final offensive drive where the freshman had an outlet in Cotie McMahon but instead took it on her own. It won the game for Ohio State, then on the next defensive possession, forced a foul to keep Belmont from even taking a shot.
When Ohio State and Michigan face off on Jan. 8, it’s must see television.
