We may be just one week removed from the 2024 WNBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean WNBA coaches and general managers have stopped thinking about which players they’d like to add to their teams in the future. Drafting in the WNBA is a year-round process; the ever-expanding transfer portal and extra years of collegiate eligibility granted by the NCAA are factors that require scouts to stay on top of things even during the summer, and that’s not even accounting for the additional work scouting international players.
So, while it may seem like the 2024-25 NCAAW season is far away, it’s never too early to start thinking about which players should be on the radars of WNBA coaches—and fans. Here are 10 NCAAW players who will be eligible for the 2025 WNBA Draft, and who we eagerly anticipate returning to the court this fall.
Paige Bueckers
In choosing to return to UConn for her redshirt senior season, Bueckers becomes the early favorite to be drafted No. 1 overall in 2025. Though a series of knee injuries forced Bueckers to miss significant time as a sophomore and junior, she reminded the country just how good she is when healthy in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, averaging 25.8 points per game and leading the Huskies to the Final Four.
Kiki Iriafen
Iriafen had a breakout junior season with Stanford, averaging 19.4 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting 54.6 percent from the field. The college basketball world now waits to see where she’ll play next. The 2024 All-Pac-12 honoree entered the transfer portal after legendary Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement; wherever Iriafen decides to go, she’ll bring with her an unguardable face-up game and next-level athleticism.
Raven Johnson
Johnson showed considerable improvement as a junior, and she was a key player for a South Carolina team that went undefeated en route to an NCAA Championship. Johnson can do a bit of everything on the court, having recently averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game. And playing for Dawn Staley, there’s no reason to think she won’t continue to get better as the Gamecocks begin their title defense.
Laila Phelia
Phelia began her career at Michigan as a defense-first player, but her offense caught up quickly. She averaged better than 16 points per game in both her sophomore and junior seasons, and she’s now a member of the Texas Longhorns after recently announcing her transfer. Phelia’s name will be dropped often when discussing wing players who contribute on both ends of the floor.
JJ Quinerly
Quinerly had an outstanding junior season, averaging a career-high 19.8 points per game and shooting personal bests from both 2-point (51.4 percent) and 3-point range (34.4 percent). She was also one of four West Virginia players to average at least two steals per game, spearheading a Mountaineers defense that ranked second in Division I in steal rate (16.3 percent) and earning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors in the process.
Aneesah Morrow
Morrow’s first season with LSU was a successful one, and with former frontcourt partner Angel Reese now in the WNBA, she could see a larger role on offense as a senior. A walking double-double, Morrow is no stranger to being the focal point of an offense (21.9 and 25.7 points per game as a freshman and sophomore, respectively, at DePaul), and she’s also recorded at least 2.5 steals per game in each of her collegiate seasons to date.
Rori Harmon
Harmon was putting up big-time stats (14.1 points, 7.8 assists and 3.1 steals per game) for Texas before suffering a season-ending knee injury, and one can’t help but wonder if that injury cost the Longhorns a Final Four appearance. A relentless defender at the point of attack, if Harmon can also maintain the shooting numbers she was posting when she got injured (52.3 percent from the field), she’ll have a case as one of the most-coveted guards in the 2025 draft class.
Azzi Fudd
Another high-profile player whose collegiate career has been derailed by injuries, Fudd has played a total of just 17 games in the last two seasons. When healthy, though, she’s one of the best shooters in the country. If Fudd returns at full strength next season, she’ll get a good amount of WNBA Draft consideration, though she may instead choose to stay at UConn for another season if granted extra eligibility by the NCAA.
Saniya Rivers
There are few guards in the country who boast Rivers’ physical gifts, and while her offensive game isn’t as far along as that of the other players on this list, she’s oozing with athletic potential and will be considered by WNBA teams for that aspect alone. Rivers regularly makes highlight plays on defense and at the rim, and if NC State can continue developing her, she’ll surely be in draft consideration next spring.
Olivia Miles
Hannah Hidalgo is the talk of the town in Notre Dame after putting up an incredible freshman season, but don’t forget about Miles, who stuffed the stat sheet just as often before hurting her knee in 2023. She’s had over a year to recover and should be ready to go this autumn, and while both Miles’ numbers and Hidalgo’s will probably take hits when they play together, it’ll be for the greater good as the Irish bring back a Final Four-caliber roster.