Watkins? Bueckers? Betts? Hidalgo? Who’s women’s basketball’s Player of the Year leader?

The Athletic

Chantel Jennings: Last season, the player of the year “debate” boiled down to: How close is the second-place vote-getter behind Caitlin Clark? So it felt like a more robust debate coming into this year, even if the assumption was that we’d be talking mostly about two players: USC’s JuJu Watkins and UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

But, here we are as the calendar turns and that has fanned out into much more of a — dare I say it? — true debate among multiple contenders. There are plenty of names to throw into the mix, and I’m curious to hear who’s atop your list as conference play has kicked off in full.

Sabreena Merchant: Let’s start with the two names we expected to be in this conversation: Watkins and Bueckers. Watkins is putting together a sophomore season that is even better than her historic freshman campaign. She’s shooting better from the field — even if her raw points per game are down, and she is assisting more, has cut down her turnovers and improved her defensive playmaking (4.8 steals plus blocks per game) for No. 4 USC. Watkins also went into Hartford and outplayed Bueckers in their Elite Eight rematch, and for better or worse, big moments factor into this conversation. That’s why Watkins is on my short list, and Bueckers isn’t.

Jennings: I haven’t ruled out Bueckers … yet. There’s still a lot of season to be played, but I think she’s further down my list than I anticipated. Even though her raw numbers are impressive and she’s having the best shooting performance (efficiency-wise) of her career at 56 percent, in her two games against the best opponents this season, she has left me less than awed. She found ways to score in games against USC and Notre Dame, but I was still wondering, “OK, but when is she going to take over?” Instead, I left those games more impressed with other players (who are also on my Player of the Year list now).

For instance, I’d include: Bueckers’ teammate Sarah Strong, Watkins (as you mentioned) and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, who went on an absolute heater against the Huskies.

Merchant: Hidalgo is another player on my short list, and frankly, one I probably should have ranked higher this preseason since she was a first-team AP All-American last year. Any concerns I had about her assimilating with Olivia Miles have completely gone away. Hidalgo is second in the country in scoring (25.9 points per game), bolstered by making 45.7 percent of her 3s this season — many of them on passes from Miles. The sophomore has also continued to be ridiculously disruptive on defense with four steals per game. Plus, Hidalgo had some marquee performances against USC, UConn and Texas. As Notre Dame has dealt with injuries up and down its roster, Hidalgo has been the constant, leading the Irish to a No. 3 national ranking. Statistically, her résumé also screams Player of the Year.

Jennings: Questions about how the Hidalgo-Miles combo would play out were fair (and frankly, they both wondered that too), but Hidalgo was one of those players on the edges of my preseason internal debate. Miles’ return prompted skepticism about how much time the ball would be in Hidalgo’s hands and the impact she’d have. And yet, Miles’ offensive weaponry is as dangerous as ever.

UCLA’s Lauren Betts fits into this same category for me as I was curious to see how new UCLA additions impacted her role. The Bruins did work in the transfer portal, bringing in Oregon State’s Timea Gardiner and Texas A&M’s Janiah Barker. I wasn’t entirely sure how coach Cori Close would use all of these players or how often they’d all be on the floor together (and what that would even look like). Plus, seared into my memory was last season’s LSU-UCLA Sweet 16 game when the Bruins guards couldn’t seem to find Betts in the post even though everyone in the arena — Close included — was shouting, “GET THE BALL TO LAUREN!” (Perhaps some of this is heightened in my memory, but I digress, because I’m certain LSU fans were perfectly fine with Betts not handling the ball.)

Merchant: Betts is also the third player in my top tier. Everything UCLA does revolves around Betts on both ends of the floor, to the point that seemingly every question asked by the road media in postgame pressers is about Betts and the task of containing her. Her box score stats don’t jump out like Watkins’ or Hidalgo’s — though 19.6 points and 9.8 rebounds isn’t too shabby — but her presence on the court amplifies her teammates’ abilities. For instance, when the Bruins played Purdue on Tuesday, Betts was doubled in the post on several plays, and she kicked it out before a secondary pass created a score for UCLA. Betts doesn’t get any credit for that, but she shifted the defense to make the basket happen.

It also doesn’t hurt to have a 6-foot-7 player protecting the rim on defense, and some of Betts’ blocks this season have been almost disrespectful. Being the best and most important player on the best team in the country is a strong argument for Player of the Year.

Before we make a final pick (at least at this point in this season), who else did you consider, even if they didn’t make the top three?

Jennings: So far, we’ve only discussed players on teams in the AP poll’s top seven. And I think it’s fair that we’re not necessarily throwing out every skilled player in the country, because there are many.

But it’s worth bringing up some players who have been rocks for their teams and kept non-Top-25 or fringe Top-25 teams relevant in my mind.

Vanderbilt’s Khamil Pierre is having an absolutely terrific sophomore season. She’s averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and four steals a game. I don’t anticipate the Commodores being in the SEC title race, but in the most recent ESPN Bracketology, Vanderbilt is a No. 6 seed, and you can trace that directly to what Pierre makes happen for the Commodores.

Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson is also having an impressive year. She’s not just leading the nation in scoring ( 27.9 points per game), but she’s also having the most efficient shooting season of her career (51 percent). She also has turned around her 3-point shooting, improving to 46 percent on the season. Defensively, she has nearly doubled her steals per game from her first two seasons in Tallahassee (2.7 per game) while fouling less than twice a game.

Anyone else I’m leaving off this list so far, Sabreena?

Merchant: Shyanne Sellers has been solid for Maryland. The Terrapins have a deep roster, but as the point guard and best perimeter defender, Sellers deserves credit for their success.

Jennings: Some have boldly said she might score 42 points a game this year.

Merchant: Madison Booker and Georgia Amoore are having All-American seasons if not POY-worthy campaigns. I didn’t expect to be thinking about Hailey Van Lith in this conversation, but she has been phenomenal as TCU’s lead guard, and her former Tigers teammates Flau’jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow are having excellent seasons, albeit against underwhelming opposition.

Jennings: So has our discussion gotten you anywhere closer on your confidence meter to picking a front-runner at this point?

Merchant: I’m going with Betts. The one thing working against her is her total minutes since she’s missed a couple of games with injury and averages only 28.3 minutes compared to 33.1 for Watkins and 35.9 for Hidalgo. But UCLA is absolutely crushing opponents when Betts is on the court with a net rating of plus-46.6 points per 100 possessions. And speaking of marquee moments, when the Bruins needed her the most, she played 37 minutes against South Carolina and put up 11 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and four assists. It’s hard to vote against that level of success.

Jennings: The other thing working against Betts is the schedule (and also what’s working against USC and Watkins). The Bruins have a great win over South Carolina and a good win over Michigan while the Trojans have a great road win over UConn and a good win over the Wolverines, but the meat of their schedules is still ahead of them in Big Ten play. Conversely, Notre Dame has those losses to TCU and Utah, but the Fighting Irish also earned great wins over USC, UConn and Texas, which makes my vote tip to Hidalgo. The Irish aren’t No. 1 like UCLA, but Hidalgo’s team has the most “best” wins this season. Perhaps by season’s end, that will not be the case, but as of now, that’s where I stand.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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