Black coaches and programs to watch in women’s college basketball

The 2023-24 college basketball season concluded under Black head coach Dawn Staley, who made history by leading the South Carolina Gamecocks to a 38-0 record and a national championship.

What could possibly be in store for Black coaches and their programs in 2024-2025?

While Staley and the Gamecocks are focused on winning more NCAA championships, a national title shouldn’t be a possible goal for each program. Some coaches will likely be chasing their program’s first-place finish in the NCAA Tournament or a regular-season conference title, while others may simply be chasing a winning season. This doesn’t make them any less worthy of consideration when creating your programs.

Here are the eight coaches and their programs chosen by Andscape as teams to watch in the 2024-25 season.

South Carolina

Coach: Dawn Staley

After winning their third national title since 2017, Staley and the Gamecocks are definitely on course to turn into the primary repeat champions since UConn won 4 straight championships from 2013-2016.

South Carolina, which starts the yr because the No. 1 team in the country, lost the centerpiece of last yr’s team in Kamilla Cardoso, who was chosen in the primary round of the 2024 WNBA draft. But everyone else from last yr’s title-winning team returns, which is a scary reality. for the remaining of the speed.

The Gamecocks also strengthened their frontcourt by adding 6-foot-10 junior transfer Maryam Dauda, ​​6-5 redshirt freshman forward Adhel Tac and 6-3 freshman Joyce Edwards, the No. 3 player in ESPN’s class 2024.

The national title will likely be South Carolina’s to lose.

Our Lady

Coach: Niele Ivey

What Niele Ivey has achieved since taking on as head coach of the Fighting Irish is already a powerful feat – three straight seasons with over 24 wins, an ACC regular season title, an ACC Championship and three straight Sweet 16 appearances. What’s much more impressive is that whenever you consider that it never had a totally healthy lineup in any of those seasons.

That won’t change, at the very least initially of the yr, as forward Maddy Westbeld will miss the beginning of the season with a foot injury. Forward Kylee Watson continues her rehabilitation after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in March. Guard KK Bransford announced on October 8 that she can be sidelined for the season with a leg injury.

The Irish have arguably one of the best backcourt in college basketball with graduate Olivia Miles, getting back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and last yr’s freshman phenom Hannah Hidalgo. Add in a projected first-round pick in next yr’s WNBA draft, guard Sonia Citron, and a powerful transfer class with forwards Liza Karlen and Liatu King, and the Fighting Irish appear to be in a superb position to strike in March.

Lamar

Trainer: Aqua Franklin

Under Coach Aqua Franklin, the Cardinals were Southland Conference regular season champions last season. Lamar finished 24-7 and 17-1 in conference play with Franklin, who signed a contract extension in May, and was named Southland Coach of the Year. The Cardinals played in their second straight conference title game, but lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, ending their 14-game winning streak.

Lamar returns 10 players. Senior forward Akasha Davis and graduate defender Sabria Dean were chosen as preseason All-SLC talents. The Cardinals will likely be searching for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009-2010.

WHEW

Coach: Jesyka Burks-Wiley

The 2023-24 season was a breakout season for Jesyka Burks-Wiley and the Panthers, who finished the season 21-12 overall and 11-5 in Conference USA. It was FIU’s first conference winning record because the 2012–2013 season and its first 20-win season because the 2011–2012 season. This season, the Panthers had two players named to the CUSA preseason team: senior defender Tanajah Hayes and junior forward Mya Kone, who was named preseason player of the yr. In her fifth season at FIU, Burks-Wiley will try to lead the Panthers to a conference title, a feat this system has not achieved since 2002.

UIC

Coach: Ashleen Bracey

One of one of the best program turnaround stories in the country occurred on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2022, UIC finished last in the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished 2-25 overall with a 1-20 record in the MVC.

Bracey comes in.

In her first season on the helm of the Flames, Bracey led UIC to a 17-win improvement and a winning season, this system’s first because the 2013-14 season. In her second season, Bracey led the Flames to their second straight victory and a 10-10 conference record. Bracey will look to take the following step for her program in the 2024-2025 season, either earning the team’s first conference record because the 2013-2014 season or advancing to the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament for the primary time because the 2013-2014 season.

Prince

Coach: Kara Lawson

Whether she decides to take the Tennessee coaching job this offseason or stick with the growing Duke program, Kara Lawson will likely be a coach to watch in 2024-2025.

The Blue Devils showed what a threat they will likely be this season after they advanced to the Sweet 16 as No. 7 seed Ohio State in last yr’s NCAA Tournament. It was the primary Sweet 16 appearance in the team’s history since 2018.

Though led by senior guard Reigan Richardson, a preseason All-ACC selection. Duke was defined by its youth a yr ago. Nine Blue Devils on last yr’s team were freshmen or sophomores. Freshman Oluchi Okananwa was named the ACC Sixth Player of the Year.

Lawson, in his fourth full season at Duke, brings in one other top recruiting class this yr with three freshmen ranked in the highest 100 of HoopGurlz espnW’s 2024 recruiting rankings, led by Canadian forward Toby Fournier (No. 10).

Duke, picked to finish third in the ACC, will seek its first regular-season and tournament conference championship since 2013.

North Texas

Coach: Jason Burton

Jason Burton made quite an impression in Denton, Texas, because the Mean Green’s first-year coach. North Texas finished last season 23-9 and set program records for conference wins and wins in a season. The Mean Green also won their first conference title since 1986. Burton was named AAC Coach of the Year.

This season, North Texas finished second in the AAC, just behind conference giant South Florida. The team is led by senior forward Tommisha Lampkin, who was named preseason player of the yr. After a disappointing end to the season in the quarterfinals of the AAC Tournament in March, North Texas will aim higher in the 2024-2025 season.

Norfolk State

Coach: Larry Vickers

Larry Vickers, the Mideast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year the past two seasons, has positioned the Spartans to proceed their recent conference dominance. Over the past two seasons, Norfolk State has gone 24-4 in conference play. The team has won regular season and conference tournament titles and will look to win three championships in the 2024-2025 season. A yr ago, Vickers led the team to probably the most wins in a single season in the Division I era (27), a record this system had just broken the previous season.

The team is led by graduate defenseman Diamond Johnson, MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, senior forward Kierra Wheeler (Preseason First Team) and graduate defenseman Niya Fields (Preseason Second Team).

Also keep watch over: Vanessa Blair-Lewis (George Mason), Yolett McPhee-McCuin (Ole Miss), Carrie Moore (Harvard), Darnell Haney (Georgetown), Alex Simmons (Memphis).