For the past three women’s college basketball seasons, the end of each season featured a team from the SEC holding up the national championship trophy. Of those titles, two went to Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks and one to LSU.
Now, in the 2024-25 season, the conference is as competitive as its been with seven teams in the top 25 and schools loaded with top athletes in the country, all hoping to mirror South Carolina’s success.
Here are the top 10 players in the conference, including two transfers making the most of new situations, the graduate senior leading the Gamecocks repeat championship run and more:
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10. Teonni Key | Kentucky
24-25 Stats: 11.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.9 blocks
When new Kentucky Wildcats head coach Kenny Brooks left the ACC for the Bluegrass State, it included bringing his Virginia Tech point guard Georgia Amoore, but she wasn’t the only ACC player to join him.
Forward Teonni Key left the North Carolina Tar Heels and is thriving with the Wildcats. The 6-foot-3 combo guard/forward has speed and midrange shooting to fulfill the needs of a guard and length and agility to play inside the paint. Watch the forward play around the basket and she’s patient enough to let defenders bite and hit layups, averaging a career high in points and rebounds.
After starting one game with the Tar Heels in two seasons, Brooks has an everyday starter to play alongside Clara Strack in the paint and pull defenders away from the rim.
Defensively, Key leads the conference with 29 blocks, averaging 2.9 per game. It shows the junior’s timing on both sides of the ball.
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9. Te-Hina Paopao | South Carolina
24-25 Stats: 11.6 points, 2.6 assists, 50% field goal percentage
After losing Aaliyah Boston before the 23-24 season, and Kamilla Cardoso following the 24-25 undefeated title run, the worry for the Gamecocks was the lack of a foreboding interior player.
South Carolina’s Chloe Kitts is working to fill that role, but the person allowing everyone to find their places on the Gamecocks roster is graduate senior Te-Hina Paopao. The former Oregon Duck transferred to Columbia before last season, but this year has established herself even further as a team leader.
Paopao’s offensive figures are down this year, but another lower stat that speaks volumes about the guard is giving up a career low 0.8 turnovers per game, giving South Carolina extra possessions.
She also still shows the dynamic playmaking that she had in the Pacific Northwest, but doesn’t have to with teammates like Kitts and freshman Joyce Edwards on the court. Paopao brings the team calm and consistency it needs to continue battling at the top of the SEC.
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8. Talaysia Cooper | Tennessee
24-25 Stats: 20.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists
Talaysia Cooper is a player who couldn’t find enough playing time at South Carolina her freshman year, but found a home with the Tennessee Volunteers.
Cooper joined head coach Kim Caldwell’s high-powered offense in the offseason and is one of five players in the conference scoring at least 20 points per game. The sophomore delivers blistering moves to the paint and goes through opponents to get baskets, but it’s not only offense where the guard’s impacting games.
The South Carolina native leads Tennessee in rebounds and steals, holding onto the highest plus/minus in the SEC overall and both offensively and defensively.
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7. Raegan Beers | Oklahoma
24-25 Stats: 17.7 points, 9.5 assists, 72.5% field goal percentage
Raegan Beers was part of the exodus away from the few Pac-12 schools that opted to stay in the conference. Many saw Beers as the transfer target of the summer and she landed with the Sooners in their first year in the SEC.
The former Oregon State star brought with her size and physicality in the paint, with accurate and efficient shooting making her a nearly automatic basket for Oklahoma. The Third Team AP All-American and two-time All-Pac-12 selection is performing better with a stronger cast around her, averaging a career high 17.7 points despite shooting less per game.
The forward leads the NCAA with an astounding 72.5 percent field goal percentage, jumping up slightly to 73.5 when only accounting for shots taken inside the arc. With guard Payton Verhulst connecting with Beers and causing defenders to choose between who they have to double-team, Beers and the Sooners could be near the top of the SEC conference in their inaugural season.
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6. Rori Harmon | Texas
24-25 Stats: 9.5 points, 6.5 assists, 2.7 steals
Texas guard Rori Harmon doesn’t have statistics that jump off a stat sheet like some players on this list but has another level that others can’t claim.
The reason for the drop is twofold. First, Harmon is returning from an ACL tear that took the guard out last season after 11 games. Those injuries normally require nearly a year before returning and Harmon is already out there making an impact. The second reason is Harmon doesn’t have to do all the scoring for the Longhorns with a stronger supporting cast.
That level is big game moments. Harmon’s already shown it this year when Texas traveled to South Bend, Indiana for the SEC-ACC Challenge. Despite losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, it took overtime and Harmon taking the game over in the final minute.
After hitting a midrange jumper to pull ahead, and the Irish answering back with what looked like the game-winning shot, Harmon earned a foul with mere seconds remaining, hitting the free throws to send it to overtime.
Combine Harmon with Madison Booker (more on her later) and it’s no surprise that Texas was voted second in the conference in the SEC preseason poll.
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5. Georgia Amoore | Kentucky
24-25 Stats: 15.6 points, 7.2 assists, 2.3 rebounds
At Virginia Tech, point guard Georgia Amoore was part of an established team, and a partnership with forward Elizabeth Kitley, that took the Hokies all the way to the 2023 Final Four. Amoore was the first Hokie to get a triple-double and holds the school record for assists, setting up a legacy that VT fans won’t forget. But what Amoore is doing in Kentucky might be more impressive.
Transferring to the SEC soon after Brooks took the head coaching position, Amoore is no longer in the comfortable confines of a program built over years of Brooks leadership. Now Amoore is at the start of building up a team, with all new players around her.
Even so, Amoore leads the SEC with 7.2 assists per game, and tied with Harmon with 72 overall. Those passes are going to all new teammates, with three of her four starting teammates transferring into Kentucky alongside Amoore.
Amoore plays the field general point guard role and called Brooks’ “mini me” by the coach himself. When it’s needed she also turns on shooting ability that frustrates opponents with her tenacity and hitting consecutive shots to pull the air out of opponent’s defensive effort.
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4. Aneesah Morrow | LSU
24-25 Stats: 17.8 points, 13.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals
Like the Gamecocks, LSU lost a big in the paint that’s hard to replace in now-WNBA star Angel Reese. With Reese gone, Morrow is back to what the forward was doing with DePaul that made her a two-time AP-All American.
Morrow has 10 double-doubles in 12 games this year for the Tigers. Now, there’s an argument to be made regarding the strength of LSU’s schedule, but in the lone ranked game of the season for head coach Kim Mulkey’s side, against then No. 20 NC State, Morrow 20 points and 15 rebounds, one of her top games of the season.
Playing at DePaul made the Chicago, IL native slightly out of the national spotlight but has the game to shine in it this season as the primary paint target for LSU. Morrow is strong in the paint, takes contact but can also step back and hit midrange shots with frequency and now has more to take with Reese away.
In 12 games, Morrow has a career high 51.9 percent shooting percentage from the floor, and is scoring more this season than last. The forward’s partnered well with the next player on the list.
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3. Flau’jae Johnson | LSU
24-25 Stats: 21.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists
Junior guard Flau’jae Johnson’s benefited the most from the extra shots needed for LSU. Johnson averages 6.2 more points per game this season than last year, but what Johnson provides is more than offense or defense.
Johnson is the leader of the Tigers on the court. Look no further than their overtime win over the Stanford Cardinal. Despite fouling out in the extra period, Johnson was up on the bench, motivating her teammates, giving feedback and helping close the game out despite not stepping on the court.
Alongside Morrow, the tandem are one of the best duos in the country. Despite losing Reese, Johnson’s 3.1 assists is a career high, finding the likes of Morrow and sophomore Mikaylah Williams.
LSU has wins over the aforementioned NC State Wolfpack but also victories over power conference schools like the Washington Huskies and Stanford Cardinal. How Johnson leads the team through SEC play is a story to watch as the stakes get higher.
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2. Khamil Pierre | Vanderbilt
24-25 Stats: 22.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.0 steals
Coming in at No. 2 is arguably the surprise player of the year, regardless of conference. Khamil Pierre and the Vanderbilt Commodores sit outside of the top 25, with a lone loss coming against undefeated Michigan State of the Big Ten, but they’re close to grabbing national attention.
That’s thanks in part to Pierre.
In 12 games this season, the sophomore who made the SEC All-Freshman team scoring 8.9 points per game jumped that up 12 points per game despite only playing eight more minutes per game.
Pierre is a 6-foot-2 forward who plays like a guard. The sophomore patrols the court and grabs steals at the highest clip in the conference (4.0 per game). Against Evansville, Pierre scored a program-high 42 points and had eight steals. Pierre did close to the same thing against the Arizona Wildcats of the Big 12 with 25 points and seven steals.
The forward also does what’s expected of a forward — rebounding. Pierre is one of only two players in the conference averaging a double-double.
Vanderbilt is off to a 10-1 start to the season due to play from Pierre, who has two SEC Player of the Week awards to her name after six weeks.
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1. Madison Booker | Texas
24-25 Stats: 17.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 54.0% field goal percentage
If the WNBA allowed players to leave college earlier, Texas forward Madison Booker would be ready to go, and a top lottery pick.
Since Harmon went out last season, Booker’s stepped up to be a catalyst for the Longhorns. Booker plays like a professional forward and rarely can a team stop the AP All-American. Booker increased her scoring this season by almost two points per game and is grabbing more rebounds.
The only dip in Booker’s game is a substantial drop in assists but that’s mainly due to Harmon’s return from injury. What Booker’s lost in facilitating, she’s made up for with deep shooting. Making an impossible to defend forward even more difficult to take on is Booker’s increased efficiency from deep, hitting 54.5 percent of her chances beyond the arc, taking 2.2 shots per game.
Booker isn’t going to lead the SEC in scoring or rebounding, but her ability to excel in multiple facets of the game makes her the most dangerous player in the conference. There’s a reason Booker is the first freshman to win Big 12 Player of the Year. Could Booker win another POY in the SEC?