NCAA title recreation foes Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese headline AP preseason girls’s All-America workforce

Caitlin Clark of Iowa is a unanimous choose for The Associated Press preseason girls’s basketball All-America workforce for the second consecutive season.

The star guard was on all 36 ballots from the nationwide media panel that selects the AP Top 25 every week. She led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA championship recreation for the primary time at school historical past the place they misplaced to Angel Reese and LSU. Reese was additionally chosen as a preseason All-America, showing on 35 ballots.

Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech, Cameron Brink of Stanford, Paige Bueckers of UConn and Mackenzie Holmes of Indiana have been additionally chosen for the workforce. Kitley and Holmes tied within the voting for the fifth spot.

Clark is now a three-time preseason All-American and is ready to have one other file yr. Last season’s AP participant of the yr averaged 27.8 factors, 8.6 assists and seven.1 rebounds. The senior, who has yet another season left of eligibility after this yr if she desires it, is 810 factors behind Kelsey Plum’s NCAA file of three,527 factors.

“Caitlin has grown the most this year in her leadership skills. As the point guard, she holds herself and everyone accountable around her,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder stated. “She has also learned this summer to become more effective coming off ball screens. She means a ton to our program and it’s hard to put it into words. She helped break the NCAA record for attendance, and she’s growing the sport as a whole not just for Iowa.”

Like Clark, Reese has helped the game develop. The pair confronted off within the NCAA title recreation final yr and practically 10 million individuals tuned in. The LSU senior helped the Tigers win their first nationwide championship whereas main the SEC in scoring (23 factors per recreation) and rebounding (15.4 per recreation) and setting an NCAA file with 34 double-doubles in a season.

She’s prepared for an encore.

“She‘s a competitor. I think she wants to be a good leader. Last year she was thrown into a leadership role and she probably was learning as she went along.,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “Now, because of that experience, maybe she’ll be a greater chief each within the locker room and on the ground. She’s a particular expertise.”

Bueckers is again and wholesome for the primary time in two seasons. She missed all of final yr with a torn ACL in her left knee. That got here after she missed most of her sophomore yr with a lateral meniscus tear and a tibial plateau fracture.

“I’m feeling much stronger. I feel more confident in my body than I ever have,” stated Bueckers, who was the AP participant of the yr as a freshman in 2021. “When I step on the court, I feel like I’m ready for whatever the defense is going to throw at me and I know people this year are going to test me, push me around, make sure I’m really healthy, make sure my knee’s really good and use physicality as a weapon against me, so I’m ready for that.”

Holmes is the primary preseason All-American in Indiana historical past. She helped Indiana to among the finest seasons at school historical past, successful the Big Ten regular-season title as she averaged 22.3 factors, 7.3 rebounds and shot 68.8% from the sector.

“She’s healthy, feels really confident about her knee and her body and her mind,” Indiana coach Teri Moren stated. “I think all of that is really good and has her in a positive place.”

It’s the second consecutive yr that Kitley has been honored as a preseason All-American. She helped Virginia Tech attain the Final Four final season for the primary time at school historical past, averaging 18.2 factors and 10.7 rebounds. Kitley determined to come back again as a substitute of enter the WNBA draft.

“She’s a generational player,” Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks stated. “I can argue she’s the best player in school history.”

Brink averaged 15.1 factors, 9.6 rebounds and three.5 blocks for the Cardinal final season. She is one in all two gamers left from Stanford’s 2021 title workforce and extra can be anticipated of her with the commencement of Haley Jones.

“She has great hands, great touch, and is passing really well. Cam is very competitive,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer stated. “She’s being aggressive and understands how important she is for our team to be out there. I think she should be in the running for player of the year. She’s that good.”

All six gamers have been honored as AP All-Americans within the spring the previous few years. Clark, Reese and Holmes have been on the primary workforce whereas Kitley and Brink have been on the second workforce. Bueckers was a unanimous first-team choice her first yr.

The AP began selecting a preseason All-America workforce earlier than the 1994-95 season.

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AP girls’s school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball