Every year, the number of players transferring continues to increase. This season is no different, and with so many moves, it’s difficult to keep up and know who is where and what matters. Here are five transfers to keep an eye on as the season begins:

Kiki Iriafen (USC Trojans)

Kiki Iriafen was at Stanford last year and had a phenomenal season. She averaged 19.4 points and 11 rebounds per game, and with the senior forward taking her talents to USC, their title chances have suddenly taken a huge jump forward.

The Trojans begin the season ranked No. 3, and if the chemistry between Iriafen and JuJu Watkins jells quickly, they could be the team best equipped to defeat No. 1-ranked South Carolina.

On paper, this team is stacked, with four Trojans named to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List: Watkins, Iriafen, Rayah Marshall and Talia von Oelhoffen, another transfer. USC is a team everyone should be watching, and Iriafen’s arrival is a big reason for this.

Charlisse Leger-Walker (UCLA Bruins)

The Bruins didn’t just sit around and let USC get better; they got Charlisse Leger-Walker from Washington State. The graduate guard has a career averages of 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, but the biggest question mark heading into the 2024-25 season is her health.

She suffered an ACL tear in January, so one would like to see her on the floor and moving well. As long as she’s good to go, UCLA will be in the running for the Big Ten title.

Kaitlyn Chen (UConn)

Paige Bueckers and UConn have been searching for their national title. They fell short last year, losing in the Final Four to Iowa. This year, they got Kaitlyn Chen, a guard from Princeton, to join Bueckers in the backcourt and help take some of the offensive initiation responsibility off of her.

Chen averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists last year as a member of the Tigers. If she can replicate that kind of production at UConn, Bueckers might very well accomplish her goal and win a national title before heading to the WNBA.

Lucy Olsen (Iowa)

Caitlin Clark is gone. Kate Martin is also in the WNBA, and Iowa is expected to plummet out of the national spotlight. But hat’s not the idea the Hawkeyes have in mind. They’re bringing in Lucy Olsen to be the star and usher in a new era of Iowa basketball.

Obviously, Olsen will not be a player of Clark’s caliber, but she is a phenomenal scorer who averaged 23.3 points last season. Only Watkins and Clark averaged more points than her in Division I. With Olsen as the system, Iowa has a chance of making the transition from the Clark era as smooth as possible.

Hailey Van Lith (TCU)

Personally, I feel Hailey Van Lith gets a bad rap.

She’s known for her reverse Jordan shrug against Caitlin Clark in last season’s NCAA Tournament game between LSU and Iowa. But, I mean, it’s Clark. She did that against just about everybody. Yes, the fact that it happened during the Elite Eight in a rematch of the 2023 national championship game brought more attention to it, but Van Lith’s reputation as a player took too much of a hit. She’s a great guard. This summer, she represented Team USA in 3×3 basketball, helping America win bronze.

Now that she’s at TCU, I’m interested in seeing how well she plays in a new situation. I think she’ll prove those who think of her as just a poor defender with mediocre offense wrong, and make the Horned Frogs a fun team to watch.

The conference that has claimed three-straight national championships—South Carolina, (2022), LSU (2023), South Carolina (2024)—is poised to remain a force in women’s college basketball, with a conference-high seven SEC teams ranked in the AP top 25 preseason poll.

Headlining the conference is South Carolina, who last year completed the trifecta of winning the SEC regular-season title, SEC tournament title and national championship, all while going an undefeated 39-0. Will head coach Dawn Staley’s squad continue to dominate the conference, extending their record mark of 43-straight SEC wins? They’re at least favored to again win the conference, with a panel of SEC and national media voting the Gamecocks as the top team in the preseason media poll. Here’s how the rest of the SEC is expected to shake out:

1. South Carolina
2. Texas
3. LSU
4. Oklahoma
5. Ole Miss
6. Alabama
7. Tennessee
8. Kentucky
9. Florida
10. Vanderbilt
11. Mississippi State
12. Auburn
13. Texas A&M
14. Georgia
15. Missouri
16. Arkansas

And here are our extended thoughts on South Carolina and the top-tier teams mostly likely to truly challenge them—Texas and LSU—along with a tiering of the rest of the SEC:

South Carolina

Three top-30 recruits—No. 3 Joyce Edwards, who also was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, No. 14 Maddy McDaniel and No. 28 Adhel Tac, who was with the team last season—join a South Carolina team that separated itself from the rest of women’s college basketball last season.

Yet, for as much justifiable excitement as there is about the newcomers, returners will be the primary reason that the Gamecocks are, once again, great. Even with the status of junior forward Ashlyn Watkins uncertain, South Carolina overflows will excellence. The Gamecocks have the pick-and-roll proficiency and pull-up shooting of senior guard Te-Hina PaoPao, the top-notch two-play of senior guard Bree Hall, the quiet consistency of senior forward Sania Feagin, the lockdown defense of junior guard Raven Johnson, the irrepressible energy of junior forward Chloe Kitts, the game-changing flair of sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley and the sharpshooting of sophomore guard Tessa Johnson. Paopao was voted to the Preseason All-SEC First Team, while R. Johnson and Fulwiley were named to the Second Team.

Staley has the best parts in nation, but, under her guidance, the sum of them is even greater.

Texas

Texas might be new to the SEC, but head coach Vic Shaefer is familiar with the conference, having served as head coach at Mississippi State for eight seasons (2012-20).

Yet, to take the Longhorns to the top of the conference, he’ll have to do something he did not consistently do when in Starkville—beat Dawn Staley and South Carolina. Schaefer and the Bulldogs were just 3-12 against the Gamecocks. South Carolina and Texas have met just once since Shaefer arrived in Austin, with the Gamecocks prevailing in an Elite Eight contest in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

But back then, Shaefer didn’t have Madison Booker on his team. The sophomore forward might be the conference’s most talented player. She not only was voted Preseason Co-SEC Player of the Year, but also was the only SEC Player named to the AP’s preseason All-America team. The Big 12 Player of the Year averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as a freshman, leading the Longhorns all the way to the Elite Eight.

She should shine even brighter as sophomore, aided by the return of senior guard Rori Harmon, who was enjoying a fantastic to start to her junior season before tearing her ACL and was named to the Preseason All-SEC Second team, and the arrival of senior guard Laila Phelia, who last season led Michigan in scoring.

LSU

Don’t be distracted by the names LSU lost. Yes, Angel Reese is in the WNBA and Hailey Van Lith took her talents to TCU. But, head coach Kim Mulkey’s team is still teeming with talent and, quite possibly, could prove more cohesive than last season’s team, which sometimes struggled to be the best version of themselves.

The headliners are the Preseason Co-SEC Players of the Year: senior guard Aneesah Morrow and junior guard Flau’jae Johnson. However, sophomore guard Mikaylah Williams, who flashed sweet scoring skill as a freshman and has been named to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team, could be the best Tiger. Sophomore center Aalyah Del Rosario also is poised to make a bigger impact in an expanded role. Add on the return of Sa’Myah Smith, who missed last season due to an ACL injury but was a contributor to the 2023 national champion team, and the arrival of a quartet of transfers in senior guard Shayeann Day-Wilson (Miami), junior guard Kailyn Gilbert (Arizona), junior forward Jersey Wolfenbarger (Arkansas) and sophomore guard Mjracle Sheppard (Mississippi State), and LSU could develop the firepower required to test South Carolina.

Tier 2: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky

In this tier, we’re departing from the media panel’s projections to emphasize how newcomers could challenge the conference’s hierarchy.

Oklahoma, a new arrival to the SEC from the Big 12 like Texas, is expected to threaten the conference’s top three teams. The Sooners return key contributors from a team that won the Big 12 regular-season title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, including redshirt senior forward Skylar Vann, a Preseason All-SEC Second Team nominee. The Sooners also added one of the most sought-after transfers in junior center Raegan Beers, who helped Oregon State advance to the Elite Eight in last year’s NCAA Tournament. She’s been named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team.

Tennessee and Kentucky, of course, are long-tenured SEC teams. But, both are entering new eras under new head coaches who are expected to introduce new identities. On Rocky Top, head coach Kim Caldwell will attempt to import a high-pace, 3-point-heavy style that, in just one season, took Marshall from mediocrity to a 17-1 mark in the Sun Belt, the conference tournament title and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1997.

In that tournament game, Caldwell’s Thundering Herd lost to the Hokies of Virginia Tech and head coach Kenny Brooks, who now is in charge at Kentucky. Brooks turned Virginia Tech into a national power behind a strategically-sophisticated inside-out offensive system. In Lexington, however, Brooks will be without Elizabeth Kitley, one of the nation’s most skilled offensive bigs during her Virginia Tech career. He will have Georgia Amoore, the star point guard who chose to forgo the WNBA and transfer to Kentucky for her graduate season. An unabashed 3-point bomber who is proficient in the pick-and-roll, look for Amoore, a Preseason All-SEC First Team selection, to carry the offensive load for the Wildcats.

Tier 3: Ole Miss, Alabama

These two teams fall into the same tier due to a persistent trend. For the past few seasons, both the Rebels and Tide enter the season announcing their intentions to establish themselves among the SEC’s upper-echelon. Yet, neither squad has been able to get over the hump, instead remaining closer to the middle of the pack than to the top tier.

Until the actual breakthrough happens, skepticism of their ability to reach that upside will linger. Both head coaches, however, will be able to rely on experienced star to steer their squads toward loftier ambitions. In Oxford, Yolett McPhee-McCuin has graduate wing and Preseason All-SEC Second Team honoree Madison Scott. In Tuscaloosa, Kristy Curry will look to graduate guard and Preseason All-SEC First Team selection Sarah Ashlee Barker.

Tier 4: Florida, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Auburn

Expect one of these teams to separate themselves from the pack and make a push for a NCAA Tournament berth.

Last season, both Vanderbilt and Auburn continued their steady rise out of the SEC cellar, a trajectory they hope continues this season. The Tigers’ effort will be aided by sophomore guard Taliah Scott, who arrives on the Plains of Auburn after turning in a superb scoring season as a freshman at Arkansas. The highest-recruit of the Shea Ralph era in freshman guard Mikayla Blakes, ranked No. 8 in the class of 2024, will be expected to elevate the Commodores.

At Florida, head coach Kelly Rae Finley enters her fourth season, while at Mississippi State, head coach Sam Purcell begins his third. Both coaches led their teams to the NCAA Tournament in their first seasons before back sliding. This season, avoiding further slippage is a top priority. The Gators will look to a trio of freshmen to help their cause in guard Liv McGill, the No. 13 recruit in the class of 2024 who hails from Minnesota’s Hopkins High School, the alma mater of Paige Bueckers, wing Me’Arah O’Neal, daughter of Shaquille O’Neal, and wing Kylee Kitts, sister of South Carolina’s Chloe.

The Bulldogs, in contrast, will hope to benefit from experience through graduate guard Jerkaila Jordan, last season’s leading scorer, and graduate wing Eniya Russell, who transferred to Mississippi State from Kentucky.

Tier 5: Texas A&M, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas

After the 2021-22 season, Joni Taylor left Georgia to take the head job at Texas A&M, while the Bulldogs hired Katie Abrahamson-Henderson as head coach. Neither team expected to be swimming in the SEC’s cellar at this point. Nor did Arkansas and head coach Mike Neighbors or Missouri and head coach Robin Pingeton.

In a women’s hoops world increasingly defined by a frothy transfer portal, these schools have seen promising talents depart and/or failed to attract any potential program changers. In the nation’s best conference, that reality results in few wins.

It is going to take some getting used to, but it’s a new era of Big Ten basketball. Caitlin Clark is gone, along with Iowa’s dominance, and now teams from the Pac-12, including USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, are joining the conference.

Their impact will be significant and immediate. According to the Big Ten coaches’ poll, the Trojans are favored to win the conference, and right behind them are the Bruins. The conference’s top five based on the coaches’ expectations is:

1. USC
2. UCLA
3. Ohio State
4. Maryland
5. Indiana

It’s unbelievable that the Big Ten is now the big 18; that seems like entirely too many teams crammed into a conference. But it’s a new era of collegiate basketball, and we’ll have to get used to it together. We’ve slotted all 18 teams into tiers, starting with the most likely to contend to the least:

Tier 1—Title contenders: USC, UCLA, Ohio State, Maryland

The Big Ten likely has about half a dozen teams that have a path of making noise during the regular season and conference tournament, but these four are the cream of the crop.

USC, ranked No. 3 is the AP top 25 preseason poll, is as hyped as possible with stars like sophomore star guard JuJu Watkins and Stanford transfer and senior forward Kiki Iriafen ready to lead the Trojans to a national title. They made it to the Elite Eight last year, and with Iriafen now in LA, they are in prime position to win the Big Ten during their first year of competition.

No. 5 UCLA is right on the heels of USC, and with junior center and walking double-double Lauren Betts, expect the Bruins to adjust well to the Big Ten and give USC a run for their money at the top of the conference.

Ohio State is ranked No. 14 in the nation and are coming off their first outright Big Ten title since the 2009-10 season. No one is sleeping on the Buckeyes, even if they aren’t being picked by many to repeat as champions. Junior forward Cotie McMahon was named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year watch list, and head coach Kevin McGuff is coming off a season where he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Last but certainly not least in the first tier is No. 18 Maryland. Terrapin senior guard Shyanne Sellers is box office, and with her in charge, they’ll be an exciting team to watch and one that can upset the best teams in the country on any given game day.

Tier 2—In the mix: Nebraska, Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois

These teams have a shot of surprising us by punching above their weight this season.

No. 23 Nebraska is no joke. Senior Alexis Markowski is a dominant big who is coming off a year where she averaged 15.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. Last season, the Cornhuskers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament after appearing in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. They’ll have something to say about who wins the Big Ten.

Indiana is basketball royalty, and we expect them to be in contention again this season. Sure, they squeaked into the final spot in the AP top 25, and both the coaches and media polls have them as the fifth-best team in the conference. Still, those are just projections, and everyone acknowledges that they have a formidable team.

Michigan State should field a respectable team this year. They have junior guard and reigning Sixth Player of the Year Theryn Hallock and All-Big Ten graduate wing Julia Ayrault ready to go. The Spartans will have to take a leap to reach the Big Ten’s top tier, but they aren’t far behind.

Last but certainly not least in tier two is Illinois. Fifth-year guard Makira Cook leads the Fighting Illini and she’s expected to have a stellar year, making the Preseason All-Big Ten Team.

Tier 3—Outside looking in: Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan

I’m sure many are happy the Iowa Hawkeyes reign is over. It was bound to happen with superstar Clark gone. Perhaps putting them in the third tier is too big of a fall, but they lost generational talent, and that’s not easy to replace.

Penn State has had a lot of turnover from last year, and with so many new players, it’ll be difficult to have a winning season in the Big Ten. The conference is only getting bigger and better, and it’ll be hard for the Lady Lions to rise in the rankings. Wisconsin was 6-12 in conference play last year, and I expect a slight improvement this season. Serah Williams is a certified bucket and should help raise this team’s ceiling.

Michigan lost some key players from last year, and I’m uncertain the backcourt can be good enough to produce many wins. A sub .500 record in Big Ten play feels like a safe bet.

Tier 4—The others: Oregon, Washington, Northwestern, Rutgers, Purdue, Minnesota

There won’t be too much dissecting with this group of teams. With a conference this big, there will be the haves and the have-nots. Last year, Oregon and Washington struggled to earn wins in the Pac-12, and the same will likely be true in the Big Ten.

Northwestern Rutgers, Purdue and Minnesota didn’t make significant enough strides to jump up to the third tier. If I had to pick one team to surprise, it would be Minnesota. They have an exciting guard in Amaya Battle, and if she can take a leap, it might be enough to take the Golden Gophers out of the Big Ten cellar.

Shaquille O’Neal always has fashioned himself as the beloved gentle giant who will give the shirt off his back for others. But what if it is just a facade to hide and conceal his true intentions?

This rising suspicion comes from his Oct. 24 appearance on Angel Reese’s Unapologetically Angel podcast, where he made cringe-worthy comments about his protégé and fellow LSU basketball alum.

In a discussion about lowering the rims so WNBA players can dunk the ball, O’Neal, 52, made reference to the Chicago Sky forward’s recent fashion choices while on the Wild ‘N Out Live Tour in Chicago.

“Imagine you in the same little shorts you had on at the Wild ‘N Out show dunking,” he said. “You know how many t-shirts you’re gonna sell?” Reese was clearly uncomfortable when she responded, “Oh my god.” She then proceeded to try to change the topic. O’Neal followed by saying to Reese, “You’re not beautiful or good-looking, you are gorgeous. There is a lot of gorgeous women in the WNBA.”

O’Neal has received a tremendous amount of backlash for seeming to sexualize Reese. Some went as far to accuse Reese of “sexualizing herself,” ignoring the fact no matter what anyone choses to the wear, they are not asking for anything sexual.

Since Reese emerged as a basketball phenomenon at LSU, O’Neal has been at her side. She has referred to him as a “father figure” who is looking out for her and her best interest. O’Neal completely betrayed such a title with his words. As a famous grown man, he should know better than to make comments that are problematic at best, creepy at worst. As if Reese hasn’t had to endure enough abuse from trolls on social media who have made racist threats towards her and her family, she now has to put up with such behavior from a man she trusts.

And for O’Neal, this isn’t an isolated incident. He has made similar remarks about other women in the past. In 2001, he made bogus claims he had sexual relations with the late singer Aaliyah, supermodel Cindy Crawford and tennis star Venus Williams. His sexism doesn’t stop there. In 2022, he said his sons should leave the house once they turn 18, but his daughters can stay at home as long as they want. Men can be independent, but women cannot?

On Reese’s podcast, he also suggested that the WNBA needs to lower the rim so players can dunk and draw more people to the game. The idea is not only patently sexist, but also has proven to be unnecessary. The WNBA, along with women’s basketball more broadly, is in the midst of a renaissance. Television viewership is up, merchandise sales are soaring and arenas are filling up. There is a great emphasis on the fundamentals, hard-nose defense and the purity of shooting the ball. Reese has shown herself to be a high-caliber player, setting records in rebounding and double-doubles records as a rookie.

Because of her play, Reese has an endless stream of possibilities ahead of her, including with Reebok. She recently extended her multi-year endorsement deal and is set to debut a signature shoe in 2026. That O’Neal is the president of Reebok basketball, however, makes the podcast appearance even more potentially problematic.

This not to accuse O’Neal of any act of impropriety without evidence. This is saying he needs to grow up and act like a man. A real man doesn’t make comments that are sexual in nature to a significantly younger person who they are trying to help. A father figure is supposed to protect, not prey.