As the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season winds down, we’re going to get announcements – perhaps on senior nights, or in the forms of social media graphics – of seniors announcing whether they will use their extra year of eligibility.
Because of the NCAA’s rule during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020-21 season did not count towards a player’s eligibility clock. So, anyone who played that season has had the chance to play an extra season of college basketball. This has created an overflowing transfer portal, older teams, and to some degree, increased parity in the sport of women’s basketball.
The 2020-21 freshman class was a star-studded one, and the final class that will benefit from this rule. UConn’s Paige Bueckers has already announced her return, while decisions loom for other superstar players like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese, Stanford’s Cameron Brink and North Carolina’s Deja Kelly. Don’t be surprised if some of these players decide not to enter the WNBA Draft. We saw several of the game’s top players return to school last season.
With this list, we’ll keep track of all the players who have publicly declared that they will return to women’s college basketball for another season in the 2024-25 campaign:
Updated: Feb. 24
Paige Bueckers, UConn
Bueckers was projected by many to be a top-five pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, but it’s clear that she feels like she has some unfinished business with the Huskies. Since leading UConn to back-to-back Final Fours as a freshman and sophomore, Bueckers’ time at UConn has been plagued with injuries to her and her teammates.
She’s stayed healthy this season, but teammates like Azzi Fudd, Aubrey Griffin and Caroline Ducharme have been sidelined. Bueckers – and Griffin – will return to UConn for one more run at a championship next season.
Kaitlyn Chen, Princeton
Chen is going to play another year of college basketball, but it won’t be at Princeton. The Ivy League generally does not allow graduate students to compete in varsity athletics, so Chen’s eligibility in the conference will expire this spring. So, she’s been in the portal since September while having a great season for the Tigers, averaging 16 points, 4.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 37.3% from 3-point land.
The Ivy League is a tough mid-major conference and good players from the league have provided big boosts to major programs over the past few years as transfers. Harvard’s McKenzie Forbes is USC’s second-leading scorer this season behind JuJu Watkins, and Princeton’s Abby Meyers helped Maryland make the Elite Eight last season before getting drafted.
The Ivy League didn’t play during Chen’s freshman season, so next year will be her fourth college basketball campaign.
Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga
One of the top forwards in the country, Ejim has led the Bulldogs in scoring this season with 20.2 points per game as they have won 21 straight games and put themselves in position to potentially host NCAA Tournament games as a top-16 seed.
Ejim is the only player in the country (as of Feb. 24) averaging at least 20 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block per game. She’s been crucial to Gonzaga’s success this season and has showed she can play with anyone in the country. In the Bulldogs’ Dec. 3 win over Stanford, she had 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Kyla Jones, Brown
Like Chen, Jones will return to another season of college basketball next year, but it will be at a school other than Brown. Jones has been in the transfer portal since December while playing well for the Bears this season, averaging 16.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. She’s scored more than 1,000 points in her career at Brown and should be able to help a major conference program next season.
Sydney Parrish, Indiana
Parrish announced back in December that she would play a fifth season of college basketball with the Hoosiers. She played her first two years of college ball at Oregon and has been with Indiana for the last two. Wherever she’s been, she’s been a sharp 3-point shooter, knocking down 40.2% of her shots from distance this season.
The 6-foot-2 guard dealt with a foot injury earlier this season, but returned to the Indiana lineup on Feb. 22 and scored seven points in their upset win over Iowa.
