Cruse and Shafer discuss the outlook for 2025’s top rookies like Paige Bueckers in Dallas and Dominique Malonga in Seattle, which current stars will still be reigning at the top of the league, and the wave of college prospects who will begin their professional careers in the intervening five seasons, like USC’s JuJu Watkins and UConn’s Sarah Strong.

Shafer explaining why his predicted No. 1 overall player in 2030 is Sarah Strong:

[Sarah Strong] is everything you could possibly ask for in a basketball player. She’s a good 3-point shooter. She scores incredibly efficiently inside the arc. She’s a good passer and an elite defender. Sarah strong is my best bet for who the best player in the world will be in five years. … That age 24, age 25 season is when all timers really show that they’re all timers.

Photo of the cover of "Becoming Caitlin Clark," a new book written by Howard Megdal.

“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!

Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.

Cruse on why he thinks Angel Reese‘s floor makes her a perennial WNBA All-Star when predicting her as the top player after the first tier of options:

There’s [a couple players] I have ranked higher in terms of upside, but I think her level of floor… I think she’s going to be an All-Star every year. The rebounding, the playmaking growth, the drives improving with the overall role change. So I think Angel is a nice pick here… She’s a little bit younger than those [other] players.

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Here at The IX Basketball, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.

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