The Kansas women’s basketball team has as much talent, top to bottom, as just about any team in the conference, and is led by a legitimate Big 12 Player of the Year candidate in junior S’Mya Nichols.
So, why were the Jayhawks picked to finish 6th in the annual preseason coaches' poll?
Don’t worry about it. Sixth is the absolute perfect spot for Brandon Schneider’s team.
Here's why.
It shows there’s respect there.
The Jayhawks, clearly, are viewed as one of the top teams in the conference. But it’s also just low enough for the team to use it as fuel for the season in that chip-on-your-shoulder sense that quietly allows them to say — and more importantly show — “we should’ve been picked higher.”
You won’t hear anything like that come out of the mouths of the Jayhawks, of course.
They’ll put the pick in the past, continue to go to work and prepare to make the 2025-26 season as good as we’ve seen from the program in years.
And make no mistake about it, they have the potential to do that.
Nichols is where it all starts. And she’s poised for her best year yet, which is absolutely saying something.
But she has incredible talent around her, both in the form of returning teammates and veteran Jayhawks and a freshman class that’s as good as there is in the conference.
Led by Top-50 prospects Jaliya Davis, Keeley Parks and Libby Fandel — all the prep players of the year in their home states last season — KU is staring at a talent infusion that we have not seen with the women’s basketball program in a long, long time. And maybe ever.
Pair that with the returning talent — and, God willing, a little good fortune on the injury front this season — and you’re looking at a team with unlimited potential.
Could they win the Big 12? Sure.
Could they make a deep run in the postseason? Sure.
Could they have the best season we’ve seen from a Kansas women’s basketball team? Sure.
Do they believe all of that? Absolutely.
And that’s what makes this season such an exciting one from the outset.
It remains to be seen how it all will play out, but the potential for a monster season is there. And the best part about that is this team knows they won’t do anything without working for it.
So, they will. Day in and day out, through ups and downs and with one goal in mind – to be the best they can be and compete with anyone.
The depth we talked about before should give them a chance to do that. In the snap of your fingers, KU went from basically no depth at the end of the 2024-25 season to some of the best depth in the conference — if not the country — entering this season.
While that will do wonders for things like rest and rotation, it also should make a huge impact on this team’s ceiling because of the battles that will be waged every day in practice.
Who knows who will start? Several freshmen? No freshmen? All veterans?
That hardly matters. Because several players who DID start last season will be in supporting and depth roles this season and they should be both ready and hungry to deliver in those spots.
Brittany Harshaw, Sania Copeland, Laia Conesa, Regan Williams. All four played massive roles and gained valuable experience on last year’s team. And all four will be better for it when this season rolls around.
That’s whether they start, come off the bench or start the season as starters and wind up on the bench.
And the best part about it is none of them will care what happens or where they land, as long as the Jayhawks are winning and they’re getting a chance to contribute.
After tipping off the season in style next Friday night, with the men’s team, at Late Night in the Phog, the KU women will open their season with an exhibition game against Fort Hays State at Allen Fieldhouse on Oct. 29.
The regular-season opener is slated for Nov. 5 against Kansas City in Lawrence.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
