ACC’s Unpredictable Showdown: Who Will Rise When the Usual Stars Are Gone?

Change is the only constant, they say—and right now, nowhere is that truer than within the Atlantic Coast Conference’s women’s basketball scene. I mean, Zoe Brooks at N.C. State? She’s stepping into uncharted territory, facing the hardwood without the steadfast support of her star teammates Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James, both of whom have moved on. And it’s not just her. Take Florida State’s coach Brooke Wyckoff, for instance, recalibrating her team after losing last season’s top scorer, Ta’Niya Latson, to South Carolina. This sweeping exodus—about 70% of last year’s all-ACC squad, including notable names like Olivia Miles—has turned the league upside down. The ACC, a powerhouse often neck-and-neck with the SEC, now looks like a blank canvas brimming with opportunity and uncertainty. Who will rise? Who will falter? As Brooks hinted, some unexpected stars might just shake the foundations of this changed landscape. Buckle up—this season promises fresh faces and fierce battles. LEARN MORE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Zoe Brooks has never known a time at N.C. State before now when she couldn’t lean on star teammates Saniya Rivers or Aziaha James before now.

Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff understands that type of jarring change considering last year’s national scoring leader Ta’Niya Latson ha s transferred to South Carolina after three seasons.

Those are common tales across the Atlantic Coast Conference when it comes to women’s basketball for the upcoming season. That’s because roughly 70% of last year’s all-ACC team is gone, including two Associated Press second-team All-Americans in Latson and former Notre Dame-turned-TCU point guard Olivia Miles.

That means a league that stands with the Southeastern Conference as the nation’s best will have a different look with mainstays departed, along with a wide-open route to the spotlight for its next potential stars.

“Some people that we might now know might step up and shock everybody,” Brooks said Monday during the league’s preseason media days.

A changed top tier

The list of returning all-conference players to the league for 2025-26 is headlined by a two-time AP first-team All-American in Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.

But 11 of the 15 players who were on the All-ACC first-team are gone, including the Rivers-James duo that led the Wolfpack to the 2024 Final Four, Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron and four- or five-year lineup fixtures like FSU’s Makayla Timpson and North Carolina’s Alyssa Ustby.

Throw in second-team turnover, and 17 of the 25 players from last year’s all-ACC teams are gone either through graduation, transfer or to the professional ranks.

And there were other notable losses outside of the all-conference picks, such as Duke forward Oluchi Okananwa transferring to Maryland after being named the ACC Tournament’s MVP in the Blue Devils’ first championship since 2013.

While roster turnover is a fact of life in college athletics, this year’s loss rate of all-conference players (68%) is much higher than the previous two years, when the ACC lost 30% of its 2023-24 honorees and 40% of 2022-23.

“You have your ideas based on the names on the rosters that people have,” said Wyckoff, who saw Latson average 25.2 points last year to lead the country and is retooling with a roster projected to feature more scoring balance. “But with so much change, it’s going to be exciting to see who really rises to the top and who does what.

“It’s unknown. We have great coaches, though, and that’s the biggest thing. They’ll get the players in the right spots to do some good stuff.”

First-team returnees

Virginia sophomore guard Kymora Johnson and Duke’s Toby Fournier join Hidalgo and Brooks as the only first-team all-conference players to return for 2025-26.

Brooks, a junior guard, started her Wolfpack career with a Final Four run playing alongside James and Rivers. She stepped up last year to rank second on the team in scoring (14.2), and spent Monday’s interviews talking about the increased pressure to be a leader with James and Rivers now in the WNBA.

Johnson, also a junior guard, has averaged 16.6 points through two seasons with the Cavaliers. Fournier is a skilled forward who averaged 13.2 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 52.6% as a freshman, helping Duke reach the NCAA Elite Eight.

They’ll all face a bigger spotlight this year as the few returning all-conference first-teamers.

Fournier, for one, welcomes it.

“It’s a different standard this year because I’m a sophomore,” she said. “I’m not a freshman. I’m not new to the ACC.”

“I love having a spotlight because that means I can have people that look up to me and I can inspire, especially young girls. … I get nervous sometimes. There is a little bit of anxiety. But at the end of the day, it’s stuff that I’ve done before and I know that I’m ready for it.”

Retooling with incoming talent

So how will the ACC retool for this year and beyond?

The league has 27 recruits ranked in ESPN’s Top 100, second to the SEC’s 28. That includes McDonald’s All-Americans like Duke guard Emilee Skinner, North Carolina guard Nyla Brooks and California guard Aliyahna Morris.

Stanford has the nation’s No. 3-ranked recruiting class with its five-player haul, including McDonald’s All-Americans in guard Hailee Swain, and forwards Lara Somfai and Alexandra Eschmeyer.

“A lot of times it’s kind of like, well, OK, the freshmen will catch on, they’ll get it when they get it,” second-year coach Kate Paye said. “But we need these five to really get it.”

There’s also incoming transfers that include N.C. State’s Khamil Pierre, who averaged 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds at Vanderbilt last year; Louisville’s Laura Ziegler, who averaged a double-double at Saint Joseph’s last year; and Syracuse’s Laila Phelia, a proven scorer at Michigan who had her lone season at Texas shortened by an eye issue.

Sure, there’s questions ahead. The way Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack sees it, there’s opportunity, too, in a league with seven straight years of eight NCAA Tournament bids.

“We’ve proven that in our winning percentage as a group and what we’ve done in the past,” Legette-Jack said of the ACC’s stature. “Now with the unknown, 11 of our top 15 players are out of the conference, it leaves us with the same mindset that we’re going to still be successful.

“But those programs like Syracuse University now can dream and believe that we can be a viable option as well to have that success.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball