South Carolina, Stanford top poll
NEWYORK — Dawn Staley already has accomplished so much at South Carolina. Now she can add the first preseason No. 1 ranking in school history to the list of achievements.
The Gamecocks received 29 of 30 firstplace votes in the Associated Press preseason women’s Top 25 released Tuesday.
“It’s pretty cool to be the first to do things at a place, where you can feel the love for our team in this town,” said Staley, who has won a national championship and five SEC tournament titles since coming to the school in 2008. “They’ve been along this journey with us and allowed us to do things like this.”
The Gamecocks, who had been second twice in the preseason poll, in 2014 and 2015, finished last season at No. 1 for the first time. Staley hopes that this year’s team will get a chance to compete for a national championship after last season’s NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Following the Gamecocks at No. 2 was Stanford,
which received the other firstplace vote from the national media panel. It’s the Cardinal’s highest ranking in the preseason since the 2009 season ( also second).
“I’m proud of our team, and they are coming to the gym and getting better,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We have a long way to go, no doubt, but I’m very excited.”
The Cardinal, who finished last year’s coronavirushalted season 276 and ranked seventh, were fueled a year ago by one of the best recruiting classes in the country— highlighted by 201819 Naismith National Girls Player of the Year Haley Jones ( Mitty). This year’s recruiting class is ranked as high as sixth in the country and is led by Cameron Brink, a 6foot4 forward from Beaverton, Ore., ranked by ESPN as the top player in the country at her position.
UConn, Baylor and Louisville round out the top five. It is the 14th consecutive year that the Huskies were ranked in the top five in the preseason.
Mississippi State was sixth. Arizona was seventh, the first time since 2004 that theWildcats were ranked in the preseason poll. North Carolina State, UCLA and Oregon rounded out the top 10.
Northwestern at No. 17 was ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 2015. JoeMcKeown’s squad was in the AP Top 25 for the final nine weeks last season, climbing to No. 11 in the final poll. There is excitement in Evanston, Ill., because of senior Lindsey Pulliam, who was first team allconference last year, and junior Veronica Burton, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
The SEC, Big Ten and Pac12 each have five teams in the preseason poll. The ACC has four, with the Big East and Big 12 each having two.