CBS Sports has released its ranking of the top 10 women's college basketball players for the 2026-27 season, which tipped off on November 1 in Rome, Italy, just 14 hours after the WNBA Finals concluded.
UConn sophomore Sarah Strong tops the list after winning the 2026 Naismith Player of the Year award. Strong averaged 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 58.2% from the field and over 40% from three-point range, despite playing through an Achilles tendon issue sustained during summer 3x3 competition.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo ranks second after a senior season in which she averaged 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and a Division I single-season record 5.6 steals per game, earning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors.
USC's JuJu Watkins sits third as she returns from a 19-month ACL recovery. The 2024-25 Naismith Player of the Year previously set the Division I freshman scoring record (920 points) and averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks in her sophomore campaign.
Rounding out the top five are Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes, who led the nation in scoring at 27.1 points per game as a sophomore and set an NCAA sophomore single-season scoring record with 918 points, and Texas forward Madison Booker, who averaged 18.9 points on 50.8% shooting and recorded the program's first triple-double.
The remainder of the top 10 includes South Carolina's Joyce Edwards (19.2 points, 57.1% shooting), Ohio State's Jaloni Cambridge (Big Ten leading scorer at 23.2 points), Oklahoma State transfer Audi Crooks (25.8 points, 64.9% shooting), Michigan's Olivia Olson (18.9 points, 6.1 rebounds), and Duke's Toby Fournier (17.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.2 blocks).
