Freshman make a big impact on the women’s NCAA Tournament. Here’s a look at some of the freshmen expected to have an impact on March Madness 2021.
THE FOLLOWING WRITTEN CONTENT BY PAT EATON-ROBB
Louisville coach Jeff Walz got a preview two years ago of just how good the current national crop of freshmen were going to be once they started their college careers.
Walz coached the United States to a gold medal in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup with an undefeated squad that included included Paige Bueckers (UConn), Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Cameron Brink (Stanford) and Haily Van Lith (Louisville).
“They were all just terrible players until I had a chance to coach them up,” he joked. “But seriously, they competed with each other, against each other. They’ve all had such good experience and international experience and played at a high level that they’ve been able to come into college and be impact players right away.”
A look at some of the freshmen expected to have an impact on March Madness.
PAIGE BUECKERS (UConn)
The the Big East’s player of the year and national player of the year candidate has received the most attention of the talented freshman class, averaging 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.3 steals. She is one of only three freshman to be named a first-team AP All-American.
She is shooting 54% from the floor and and 47.4% from 3-point range.
One of three freshmen who see significant playing time for the Huskies (post Aaliyah Edwards and guard Nika Muhl are the others), she’s already has hit game-clinching shots against rival Tennessee and South Carolina.
“Listen, I’m not boasting. But if I talked to every single coach in America and they told you, they’d rather have their freshmen than Paige, I would tell you they’re only saying that to be nice to their own players,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “Because there’s things that they’ve seen Paige do that no other freshmen can do.”
UConn opens against High Point on Sunday.
CAITLIN CLARK (Iowa)
Iowa’s star led the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten title game and led the nation in scoring at 26.7 points per game. Read more from MSN.
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