*** 2025-26 ISU WBB Season Thread ***

[BoxsterCy]

ISU has three (Crooks, Brown, Jackson) or four (Hare) returning starters, the pre-season conference player of the year (Crooks) and two players on the pre-season all-conference team, as compiled by the coaches. We replaced Emily Ryan with a highly ranked junior PG from the transfer portal (Jada Williams) along with a Conference Player of the Year Forward (Paulk) who can rebound and defend. Theoretically, ISU is LOADED and should be title favorites by almost any measure.

TCU has NINE new arrivals and one player on the pre-season all conference team (Miles). ISU is preseason ranked #13 by ESPN to TCU's #21. Yet somehow TCU got ten coach votes (Campbell can't vote for himself) as favorites to repeat as title winners.

Only two of sixteen Big XII coaches voted for ISU to finish first, which is STUNNING - given the talented and experienced personnel, this is almost certainly an indictment of our coaching staff - the other coaches obviously don't feel CBF can push the correct buttons over the course of a long season.

To me it was a indication that the other coaches maybe think Campbell is a better coach than Fennelly or Nicki Collen especially since ISU and Baylor are relatively loaded. Both ISU and Baylor have two pre-season first teamers and still only managed two first place votes each. I think the top three players for Baylor and ISU are better than the top three for TCU.

Baylor newcomer Talia Scott averaged 20 pts a game as a freshman in the SEC which addresses a problem they have had of late, scoring. And they also added a possible "sleeper" in North Dakota's Kiera Pemberton if she can make the transition to P5. TCU brought in Miles but the two grad transfers to go with Miles are just "solid" but not eye popping all-stars. The only rationale for giving 10 votes to TCU is Campbell himself and, in my opinion, it's a huge challenge. It's odd because everyone else has TCU ranked below ISU and Baylor.

 

[acoustimac]

There is zero chance this is his last season. This roster is built for a two year run followed by a complete rebuild. Im assuming whatever money we have left is going to get the best player possible with 1 year of eligibility instead of freshman for the 26-27 season

Assuming this is where Bill retires, the quality of coach we get is determined by how much rev share is given to a new coach. If Pollard actually hires one of the current assistants you know there wont be much funding going forward.

Agree. Bill is in it for the players for two years. It would to be a compete disaster (like a losing record) for him to retire early. I sure wish I had access to that list in Jamie’s desk drawer. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[kcdc4isu]

There is zero chance this is his last season. This roster is built for a two year run followed by a complete rebuild. Im assuming whatever money we have left is going to get the best player possible with 1 year of eligibility instead of freshman for the 26-27 season

Assuming this is where Bill retires, the quality of coach we get is determined by how much rev share is given to a new coach. If Pollard actually hires one of the current assistants you know there wont be much funding going forward.

When coach decides to hang it up as long as Pollard is our AD he will give us the best coach he can find. I don't see him selecting one of our current staff as the two longest members I believe will retire with him.

 

[mred]

When coach decides to hang it up as long as Pollard is our AD he will give us the best coach he can find. I don't see him selecting one of our current staff as the two longest members I believe will retire with him.

I can see a scenario where Billy is hired, and Jodi and Latoja stay on for a while. They are only 58 and 54 respectively.

 

[acoustimac]

I can see a scenario where Billy is hired, and Jodi and Latoja stay on for a while. They are only 58 and 54 respectively.

I can see that scenario but it would not be the norm for Jamie.

 

[theshadow]

TV games:

 

[ZorkClone]

TV games:

Hope we do better on national tv this year. We went 1-8 last regular season.

 

[MartyFine]

 

[mwwbbfan]

Open at #14 in AP Preseason Poll

AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 women's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA women's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2025-26 season.

apnews.com

 

[ZorkClone]

Open at #14 in AP Preseason Poll

AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 women's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA women's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2025-26 season.

apnews.com

I'm a little surprised people are still picking us this high (Creme included) after a less than stellar performance last season.

Also, the saturation on that photo makes Addy's freckles look wild.

 

[CycloneT]

I'm a little surprised people are still picking us this high (Creme included) after a less than stellar performance last season.

Also, the saturation on that photo makes Addy's freckles look wild.

Probably thinking we can’t possibly shoot worse than we did most of the season last year and should be better defensively. Plus a year older

 

[DGC]

Does anyone know if we are fully healthy? Saw Sydney at a VB game and looked like a soft wrap on her wrist.

 

[bozclone]

Open at #14 in AP Preseason Poll

AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 women's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA women's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2025-26 season.

apnews.com

I hope they are right. Still a little gun shy from last year.

 

[mwwbbfan]

Probably thinking we can’t possibly shoot worse than we did most of the season last year and should be better defensively. Plus a year older

I think that the potential for improvement comes from a high level replacement at PG (as much as I love Emily she was not healthy for her last two years) and a solid backup in Reese. Plus if Hare can return healthy that adds another quality piece. Add in to that the additional year of experience from the Juniors and we have the chance to have a successful season.

 

[acoustimac]

I'm a little surprised people are still picking us this high (Creme included) after a less than stellar performance last season.

Also, the saturation on that photo makes Addy's freckles look wild.

Add in a healthy (which she wasn't at any point last year) Hare, the addition of Williams, a hopefully fully healthy Jackson and Addy, addition of some defense and shooters, etc. And we can hope that last year's freshmen make some growth and more than anything...become more consistent.

 

[CycloneT]

Biggest thing I want to see is a smaller rotation. Played way to many players last year and inconsistent minutes doesn’t help anyone

 

[BoxsterCy]

Four voters, including Rebecca Lobo and Jeff Linder of CR Gazette, put us in the Top Ten.

Cassandra Negley of Yahoo didn't have us ranked. LOL. Quite the outlier.

Most voters had us in the 11-15 group of five.

 

[Tpups21]

Will be interesting to see how Jada Williams fits in offensively. Can't just waste her talent by forcing passes into a double-teamed Crooks on every possession.

 

[ZorkClone]

Will be interesting to see how Jada Williams fits in offensively. Can't just waste her talent by forcing passes into a double-teamed Crooks on every possession.

I agree, I am hoping for a change to our offensive philosophy a bit.

I will say what the team was missing last year was defense, we need more out of Addy and Audi. Hopefully Jada and Paulk add some needed speed and defensive tenacity.

 

[bozclone]

The latest Cycast podcast provides some insight into the team and possible rotations. I think our offense has the potential to be really good. I’m excited to see Jada play. It will be interesting to see if our defense and rebounding improve from last year. It will be interesting to see what combinations of players are on the floor together.