NCAAW Player of the Year race: Comparing the top three players
As we wrap up 2024, the year of women's basketball, let's take this final POTY ranking before the New Year to compare the top three prospects: Hannah Hidalgo, Juju Watkins, and Paige Bueckers.
Category | Hannah Hidalgo | Juju Watkins | Paige Bueckers |
|---|---|---|---|
Year/Class | Sophomore | Sophomore | Redshirt Senior (5th year) |
School | Notre Dame | USC | UConn |
Team AP Poll Ranking (Dec.30/2024) | No.3 | No.4 | No.7 |
Draft Eligible | 2027 | 2027 | 2025 |
Points per game | 25.4 | 25.2 | 20.9 |
Assits per game | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.8 |
Rebounds per game | 6.8 | 5.8 | 4.5 |
Field Goal % | 48.6% | 45.9% | 56.9% |
3-point % | 43.1% | 35.8% | 40.6% |
Steals per game | 4.0 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
Usage Rate | 29.5% | 32.6% | 28.7% |
Offensive Rating | 122.8 | 122.9 | 133.8 |
Defensive Rating | 75.7 | 66.8 | 78.0 |
Points per Scoring Attempt | 1.20 | 1.17 | 1.31 |
Effective Field Goal % | 55.0% | 52.2% | 63.8% |
It's really apparent how close this race is when you look at the stats side by side (by side) like this. While Hidalgo certainly takes most of the basic box score stats — with Watkins extremely close behind in many — Bueckers's advanced stats pop out.
Hidalgo has the highest 3-point percentage, contributing to her high points per game stat, whereas Bueckers has the highest efficiency, posting the highest field goal percentage by a large margin. Watkins told media in the past week she has been spending her sophomore season trying to be a "better teammate" in the sense of getting her teammates more looks — which contributes to her having the highest assists per game number.
Advanced stats show the race is even closer
As we go deeper into advanced statistics, Watkins's usage rate jumps out. That number tracks the amount of time a player spends on the floor shooting, committing a turnover, or getting to the line. Juju's defensive rating is also wild to look at, a stat that tracks how many points a player allows per 100 possessions when they are the sole defender. Yet, Bueckers has the highest offensive rating - a stat that tracks how many points a player scores per 100 possessions.
Bueckers also has the highest points per possession number at 1.31, and an effective field goal percantage of 63.8%. That stat tracks a player's field goal percentage using an algorithm that accounts for the value of three-point shot attempts.
These numbers truly depict just how close the POTY race is between these three incredible players. Of course, we are still early into the season - there is still conference play, tournaments, and the national championship tournament to account for. Voters will take these stats into account along with each player's team record, performance and ranking to a degree. So much goes into winning player of the year other than just the hard statistics, but these are a great jumping off point.
Stats via herhoopstats.com