NCAAB - WOMENS · 1 day ago

Ranking the Top 15 5th-Year Women’s College Basketball Players Who Could Return

Paul Connor

Host · Writer

1. Mia Nicastro, F, Western Illinois
There's little debate at the top. Nicastro turned her senior year into one of the best individual campaigns in the country, averaging 24.1 points and 9.8 rebounds on 51.8% shooting and 89.6% at the line. The 6-foot-2 forward was OVC Player of the Year, the conference's Female Athlete of the Year and one of five finalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. And she wasn't just feasting in league play; Nicastro dropped 21 points on North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. A fifth season would give a high-major program a proven No. 1 scorer who can work inside, face up and stretch a defense.
15. Gift Uchenna, F, Wisconsin
A note on eligibility: A federal judge recently clarified that the injunction granting certain 2022 entrants a potential fifth season doesn't override existing NCAA rules on professional participation, transfer windows or roster limits. In practice, each player's path back for 2026-27 comes down to her own eligibility and roster situation.

Uchenna gets an asterisk because her case isn't the standard 2022-entry situation covered by the injunction. Wisconsin had already requested another year for her through a separate process; before Southern Illinois and Wisconsin, she spent two seasons at Shih Hsin University in Taipei, and those counted against her NCAA clock. The Badgers reportedly held a roster spot while awaiting the appeal.

On basketball alone, she'd rank far higher. In just 18.9 minutes a night, the 6-foot-3 forward averaged 9.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks—a year after posting 14.5 and 12.8 at Southern Illinois. She's an elite rebounder with real rim protection.
14. Journey Armstead, G, UAB
Armstead is the specialist of this group; give her the ball, and she'll organize an offense. The Tulsa native dished out 98 assists in 26 games (3.8 APG) despite starting only 10 times for UAB and matched her career high with 11 assists in one game. The concern is impossible to ignore, though. Armstead averaged just 4.7 points while shooting 31.5% from the field and 1-for-27 from 3 after scoring 10.8 points and handing out 4.5 assists per game the previous season. That junior year is why she's here. If the jumper climbs back to even functional levels, there's a legitimate distributor under the senior slump.
13. Catherine Alben, G, Georgia Tech
After earning All-Big South honors in each of her three years at Charleston Southern, Alben jumped to the ACC and averaged 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists for Georgia Tech. Her efficiency dipped with the step up in competition, but the 5-foot-7 guard still created offense against far tougher defenses. Alben's best fifth-year fit probably isn't as a No. 1 option, but rather as a veteran complementary creator who can attack a tilted defense, score off the bounce and soak up real backcourt minutes.
12. Hannah Stines, G, Washington
There's value in knowing exactly what you're getting, and Stines has given Washington four years of dependable high-major minutes. She played 130 career games, 33 as a senior, and finished 2025-26 at 6.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per contest. The shooting cratered -- 37.2% overall, 27.3% from three -- but her junior numbers (44% from the floor, 35.6% from deep) suggest a bounce-back is plausible. At 5-foot-11, Stines rebounds well for a guard and can run secondary offense without needing the ball every trip. Another season would essentially be a bet on the four-year sample over the senior dip.
11. Sirviva Legions, G, UTEP
Rebounding is what sets Legions apart from most of the other guards here. Although her senior season was limited to 21 games, Legions averaged 9.3 points and 5.5 rebounds, with 1.9 of those boards coming on the offensive end. That's exceptional work on the glass for a perimeter player and speaks to the physicality with which she operates. Legions isn't a natural floor-spacer -- she made just three 3-pointers all season -- and a 52.6% free-throw mark further narrows the offensive profile. But she can pressure the paint, defend physically and steal extra possessions by crashing from the perimeter. A healthy fifth season wouldn't require a dramatic reinvention; merely restoring some scoring efficiency while retaining that rebounding motor could make her a valuable rotation piece.
10. Aaniya Webb, G, Tennessee State
Webb can create shots; the next step is creating better ones. The 5-foot-11 guard led Tennessee State at 11.7 points and added 3.5 rebounds, but it took 308 field-goal attempts, at 32.1% overall and 28.1% from three. Those numbers are why she lands mid-list. Still, self-generated offense matters, especially late in possessions when structure breaks down, and she has the size to attack smaller guards rather than settle for jumpers. A fifth year gets interesting if she trims the tough shots, finds better spots and channels that aggression more efficiently.
9. Sydney Bowles, G, Florida State
The case for Bowles sharpens when you widen the lens past her senior averages. She finished 2025-26 at 8.4 points, but the 6-foot guard has already delivered much bigger nights in the ACC, including a career-high 32 points against Georgia Tech as a junior and multiple games with six three-pointers. Even in an uneven senior year, she dropped 24 points at Pitt, 18 points on Oklahoma, and 17 points on Wake Forest. The inconsistency is part of the read, but so is the ceiling. Few potential fifth-year guards pair her size and high-major experience with proven ability to swing a game from deep.
8. Marley Washenitz, G, Arizona State
Washenitz does a little of everything, which is exactly why she sits comfortably in the top 10. In her lone Arizona State season, the 5-foot-7 guard started all 35 games, averaged 7.9 points and 2.3 assists, and led the Sun Devils at 1.9 steals (ninth in the Big 12). She hit three-plus steals 12 times and closed her ASU run with a season-high-tying 19 points and a career-best five threes in the NCAA tournament against Virginia. Washenitz's outside consistency still has room to grow. Still, she defends the point of attack, makes secondary reads and thrives without the ball -- an appealing profile for a veteran who can connect higher-usage pieces.
7. Nile Miller, F, Howard
Miller earns this spot because she can wreck possessions without touching the ball. She averaged 7.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and an eye-catching 2.4 steals while starting all 34 games for Howard on 45.8% shooting. At 6-foot-1, Miller has the length and instincts to jump passing lanes, switch across matchups and rebound well enough to close out stops. Her defense is a sustained track record, not a senior-year spike, so coaches wouldn't have to project an identity. She already has one, low-maintenance and defense-first, the kind that complements more dominant scorers.
6. Eliza Maupin, F, Nebraska
She won't fill a box score nightly, but Maupin's efficiency and tools make her easy to picture in a winning rotation. The 6-foot-3 forward averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds on 51.5% shooting with two double-doubles, despite starting just ten times for Nebraska (an ankle injury also cut into her late season). Maupin runs the floor, finishes around the rim, and defends with length, none of which requires plays drawn up for her. If she returns, more minutes could bring a real offensive jump.
5. T'yana Todd, G, Ohio State
Ignore the most recent line for a second. Todd averaged just 3.7 points in 11.9 minutes in a crowded Ohio State rotation—but a year earlier at Boston College she scored 13.7 a game and led the ACC by hitting 45.9% from three. That's the version that makes a fifth year intriguing. Shooting like that never guarantees a rebound season, but proven perimeter shot-making is hard to find, and Todd still posted five double-figure games in limited Buckeyes minutes, including 16 against UCLA. Rather than asking her to create, a team that rebuilds her confidence and manufactures catch-and-shoot looks could unlock far more than her 2025-26 numbers suggest.
4. Ronnie Porter, G, Wisconsin
Porter is the point guard on this list I'd trust most to run a team. Scoring only 6.0 points per game undersells how influential she was for Wisconsin. Across 34 games for the Badgers, Porter handed out 165 assists, collected 56 steals, and pulled down 4.2 rebounds despite standing just 5-foot-2. Her roughly 2.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is the mark of a veteran who understands pace and angles and knows when to get teammates involved instead of forcing offense herself. The post-clarification wrinkle matters here because the transfer rules weren't reopened; a player who hadn't previously entered the portal generally can't use the ruling to shop for a new school. That makes a Wisconsin reunion the logical route if Porter pursues the fifth season and the Badgers can accommodate her.
3. Harmanie Dominguez, G, Stephen F. Austin
There may not be a more easily transferable offensive skill on this list than Dominguez's shooting. The New Mexico native buried 100 threes in 35 games, converting 36.6% of 273 attempts while averaging 12.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. That's nearly eight attempts from deep per game, so the percentage isn't coming on cautious volume. She stretches defenses well past the arc without monopolizing the ball, a natural fit next to a high-usage point guard. A fifth year hands Stephen F. Austin one of the country's best movement shooters, or, depending on what transfer terms prove permissible, gives another roster instant floor-spacing.
2. Zyion Shannon, G, Arkansas State
Shannon's jumper isn't what puts her this high; it's everything else she does to disrupt a game. The Arkansas State guard started all 37 contests and racked up 471 points, 86 steals (2.3 a game) and 145 rebounds from the backcourt. Shannon's 27.2% from three leaves clear room to grow, but her downhill drive and defensive anticipation generate value that never shows up in a shooting column. Give her space and teammates who can create, and she can lean fully into her strengths -- hounding ball-handlers, turning steals into points and setting a high-octane tone every night.
1. Mia Nicastro, F, Western Illinois
There's little debate at the top. Nicastro turned her senior year into one of the best individual campaigns in the country, averaging 24.1 points and 9.8 rebounds on 51.8% shooting and 89.6% at the line. The 6-foot-2 forward was OVC Player of the Year, the conference's Female Athlete of the Year and one of five finalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. And she wasn't just feasting in league play; Nicastro dropped 21 points on North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. A fifth season would give a high-major program a proven No. 1 scorer who can work inside, face up and stretch a defense.
15. Gift Uchenna, F, Wisconsin
A note on eligibility: A federal judge recently clarified that the injunction granting certain 2022 entrants a potential fifth season doesn't override existing NCAA rules on professional participation, transfer windows or roster limits. In practice, each player's path back for 2026-27 comes down to her own eligibility and roster situation.

Uchenna gets an asterisk because her case isn't the standard 2022-entry situation covered by the injunction. Wisconsin had already requested another year for her through a separate process; before Southern Illinois and Wisconsin, she spent two seasons at Shih Hsin University in Taipei, and those counted against her NCAA clock. The Badgers reportedly held a roster spot while awaiting the appeal.

On basketball alone, she'd rank far higher. In just 18.9 minutes a night, the 6-foot-3 forward averaged 9.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks—a year after posting 14.5 and 12.8 at Southern Illinois. She's an elite rebounder with real rim protection.