Women's college basketball offseason winners and losers: LSU, Aneesah Morrow ready to make another title run

The 2023-24 women's college basketball season was one for the history books, but the fun doesn't end with the departure of Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Get your popcorn ready because we are in for another roller coaster ride.

The 2024-25 college basketball season will tip off in less than 30 days, so it's time to review what happened over the last few months. Some things remain the same, such as South Carolina still looking like the strongest team in the nation. However, things will look very different in the Big Ten, especially in Iowa City.

Here are our winners and losers from the 2024 women's college basketball offseason:

Winner: South Carolina

The Gamecocks just won their second national title in three years and have only lost three games in that timeframe. Their veteran leader, Kamilla Cardoso, is now in the WNBA, but depth was a huge strength for them last season, and the way Dawn Staley runs the program means the Gamecocks likely won't miss a beat.

"Our program is next woman up," Staley recently told CBS Sports. "It may not be a single voice, but it's a collection of voices that works for us. It works for us, which is cool because you lose one person and you don't want your program to just go downhill."

South Carolina is currently without 6-foot-3 forward Ashlyn Watkins, who has been suspended from team activities for the last month amid a troubling legal situation. However, the roster still looks very promising. The Gamecocks have "walking highlight reel" MiLaysia Fulwiley, as well as Te-Hina Paopao, who had the best 3-point shooting percentage in the nation last season. Meanwhile, Raven Johnson impressed last season and helped keep Clark in check defensively during the national championship game.

Chloe Kitts and Sania Feagin are also two players Staley highlighted for the work they put in during the summer.

Loser: Iowa

While other players stepped up during the postseason and the Hawkeyes reached their second consecutive national title game thanks to a strong team effort, Iowa spent a significant part of last season relying on Clark as its main offensive weapon. Not only has Clark moved on to the WNBA, but the Hawkeyes will also have to do without Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall and Molly Davis. 

Lisa Bluder retired after the season with associate head coach Jan Jensen taking over, and now Jensen will have to guide the rebuilding effort. The Hawkeyes were the team to beat in the Big Ten last season, but the conference became even more competitive with the addition of teams like USC and UCLA. 

And if Jensen's job wasn't difficult enough already, Sydney Affolter, who showed huge potential during the NCAA Tournament, had knee surgery this offseason and is not back with the team yet. These setbacks don't mean Iowa will never be competitive again, but the Hawkeyes will definitely have their work cut out for them early. 

Winner: LSU

The Tigers no longer have double-double queen Angel Reese, but the players they return -- combined with some talented newcomers -- will once again make LSU one of the top teams in the SEC.

Aneesah Morrow is a versatile player who last season averaged 16.4 points and 10 rebounds per game while leading the team with 93 steals and 42 blocks. With Reese gone, this is her time to shine even brighter. Other top returners include Flau'jae Johnson, Mikaylah Williams and Sa'Myah Smith -- who only appeared in seven games last season due to a knee injury, but will be very valuable in her return.

Mulkey also got some good pieces from the transfer portal in Arizona's Kailyn Gilbert, Arkansas' Jersey Wolfenbarger and Miami's Shayeann Day-Wilson, who started her career at Duke and was named the 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year.

Loser: UConn

The Huskies could have the most dangerous roster in the nation if they were fully healthy, which hasn't happened in a while. Even with Paige Bueckers healthy and the addition of Sarah Strong, No.1 player from the class of 2024, the Huskies will need more help. Azzi Fudd (torn ACL), Caroline Ducharme (head/neck) and Aubrey Griffin (torn ACL) are three key players for UConn that will not be ready to play at the beginning of the season.

"None of them will be ready," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said last week. "If I had to guess, I think Azzi would probably be back sooner than anybody else. Carol, I don't know -- that's guesswork. Aubrey for sure will be after Azzi."

Auriemma shared that Griffin "hasn't hardly done anything," but he seemed cautiously optimistic regarding Fudd's timeline.

"Before we get into the biggest, most important parts of our schedule, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she can be with us," Auriemma said.

In more positive news, Auriemma is happy about where Jana El Alfy (achilles) and Ayanna Patterson (knee tendinitis) are at this point. Freshman Morgan Cheli has "some lingering stuff" from her high school senior year, but she has been "doing more and more every day."

Loser: Pac-12

In a way, the Pac-12 is a huge winner because it is managing to stay alive despite almost all of its members leaving this year. This offseason, conference secured four teams from the Mountain West and one from the West Coast. While it is great to see the Pac-12 isn't gone, the conference will have to prove itself all over again. 

The two Pac-12 teams remaining are Oregon State and Washington State, which were not the strongest teams in the conference but did manage to impress recently. Washington State won the Pac-12 Tournament in 2023 and Washington State is fresh off an Elite Eight appearance. 

Unfortunately, the teams that will join the conference in 2026 don't quite have the resume as the departing programs. Boise State has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019, Colorado State hasn't been there since 2016, Fresno State since 2014 and San Diego State since 2012. Gonzaga has the strongest track record as the Zags are fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance.

Winner: USC

After reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1994, the Trojans lost a significant amount of experience with the departures of McKenzie Forbes, Kaitlyn Davis and Kayla Padilla. However, it is not hard to see that Lindsay Gottlieb's team is going to be just fine. The Trojans are led by JuJu Watkins, who is fresh off a historic freshman season and is already getting paid like the superstar she is becoming. 

However, USC also got stronger with the additions of Stanford star Kiki Iriafen and Oregon State's Talia von Oelhoffen. The cherry on top is that the Trojans also have the nation's top-ranked freshman class.

The Trojans are one of the teams that said goodbye to the Pac-12 this year, but their reputation followed them to the Big Ten as they were voted as the preseason favorite by both coaches and the media. Watkins was named the Preseason Player of the Year and was joined by Iriafen on the All-Big Ten Team.

Winner: Texas

Texas won't have DeYona Gaston or Shaylee Gonzales anymore, but the Longhorns still have plenty to be excited about. Last season, the Longhorns took a big hit after losing star point guard Rori Harmon to a season-ending knee injury, but she is ready to make a comeback while looking "like a million dollars," according to Texas coach Vic Schaefer.  

"She just makes such a difference, y'all," Schaefer said earlier this month. "How she is defensively, to fundamentally things just as simple as blocking out." 

The silver lining of Harmon's unfortunate injury was the Longhorns developing another star on their roster. Freshman Madison Booker was a wing in high school, but had to take over point guard duties when Harmon went out. Booker did an excellent job, and was named both the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year, becoming the first freshman to do so. She also earned the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year award.

Even NBA star Kevin Durant has high expectations for Booker, as he told the Austin American-Statesman "she's going to be even better as she moves forward."