For many college basketball experts, selecting the greatest players of the women\u2019s poll era sounds easy \u2014 until they try it.<\/p>\n
Of course, USC\u2019s Cheryl Miller<\/a> and Diana Taurasi<\/a> of UConn are relatively easy choices. But narrowing the list from there gets tricky, inevitably leaving out talented players, including those who sharpened their skills during later professional careers.<\/p>\n In honor of the 50th anniversary of the women\u2019s basketball poll<\/a>, The Associated Press assembled a list of the greatest players since the first poll in 1976. And in the spirit of the Top 25 rankings, the choices are certain to spark a debate and prompt plenty of handwringing among those who were in a position to vote.<\/p>\n \u201cNearly impossible,\u201d Rebecca Lobo, a former UConn standout and NCAA champion, said of the assignment. \u201cAs I\u2019m looking down the list, I\u2019m like no-brainer, no-brainer, no-brainer. But then I\u2019m like wait, there\u2019s too many no-brainers and not enough slots.\u201d<\/p>\n Lobo was one of 13 members of a panel of former players and AP sportswriters who voted on the greatest players. They were instructed to consider only the athletes\u2019 college careers. Other factors, however, were up to their discretion, including championship pedigree, record-breaking statistics or simply their ability to will their teams to victory.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was extraordinarily difficult especially to try to hone in on a players\u2019 college career and eliminate their pro career from your brain,\u201d Lobo added. \u201cThere are going to be players who are Hall of Fame caliber players who aren\u2019t on the list.\u201d<\/p>\n Joining Miller in the frontcourt on the first team are Candace Parker<\/a> and Central New York native Breanna Stewart<\/a>. Caitlin Clark<\/a> joins Taurasi as the guards.<\/p>\n Stewart starred at Cicero-North Syracuse<\/a> before heading to Connecticut. She won four NCAA championships at UConn and earned Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four all four years. <\/p>\n Taurasi helped UConn win three national championships, including carrying the Huskies to the last two basically on her own during her junior and senior season.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat an accomplishment and what an honor,\u201d Taurasi said. \u201cTo think about the history of the game and where it\u2019s gone. You always have to look at the past to go into the future. There\u2019s so many great women who paved the way.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark led Iowa to back-to-back NCAA championship game appearances while setting the career scoring record for any Division I women\u2019s or men\u2019s basketball player.<\/p>\n Her play on the court, including her logo 3-point shots, helped lift women\u2019s basketball to unprecedented levels of attention and energy during her last two seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing named an AP All-American is one of the most storied honors in college sports,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIt means a lot to be named to this all-time list alongside players I looked up to. It\u2019s fun to think about what it would have been like if we all played together.\u201d<\/p>\n The frontcourt of Miller, Stewart and Parker dominated the game during their eras.<\/p>\n Parker led Tennessee to back-to-back titles in 2007-08. Miller, one of the original NCAA greats, starred for USC and led the Trojans to consecutive championships in 1983-84.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up watching Cheryl Miller play,\u201d Parker said. \u201cShe\u2019d be No. 1. My dad was like \u2018This is who we wanted you to be.\u2019 I\u2019m honored to be on this list with her.\u201d<\/p>\n The second team\u2019s backcourt is UConn\u2019s Sue Bird<\/a> and Virginia\u2019s Dawn Staley<\/a>. The former Cavaliers guard and current South Carolina coach is the only women\u2019s player to win the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four on a losing team when her Cavaliers fell to Tennessee. Bird helped UConn win championships in 2000 and 2002.<\/p>\n The Lady Vols\u2019 Chamique Holdsclaw, UConn\u2019s Maya Moore<\/a> and Lusia Harris<\/a> of Delta State are on the second team frontcourt. Holdsclaw was a three-time NCAA champion and twice earned the tournament\u2019s MOP honor. Moore was part of the Huskies\u2019 dynasty that won a then-record 89 consecutive games. She helped the Huskies to consecutive titles in 2009-10.<\/p>\n Harris led Delta State to three AIAW titles in the mid-1970s and was the tournament\u2019s MVP each year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d watch these two teams play and I\u2019m not sure who would win,\u201d UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of the first and second teams selected by the panel.<\/p>\n Auriemma has four former players on the first two teams, but would enjoy looking to the bench at a group of reserves that includes:<\/p>\n UCLA\u2019s Ann Meyers Drysdale<\/a>, Kansas\u2019 Lynette Woodard and Texas Tech\u2019s Sheryl Swoopes in the backcourt. For the frontcourt, there is USC\u2019s Lisa Leslie<\/a>, Baylor\u2019s Brittney Griner<\/a> and South Carolina\u2019s A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI am always asked if players today could play back in the \u201870s or \u201980s or vice versa. When you\u2019re great in one generation, you\u2019re going to be great in any generation,\u201d said Meyers Drysdale, who also was a member of the voting panel. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any name that is wrong or there\u2019s any name that is right. There\u2019s so many great players that are going to be left off.\u201d<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many college basketball experts, selecting the greatest players of the women\u2019s poll era sounds easy \u2014 until…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":309392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,2738,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,23320,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-309391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-connecticut","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkcity","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-uconn","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115386703236654890","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}