Why Michigan women’s basketball has the best returning core in the Big Ten

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SOUTH BEND, IN - MARCH 23: Olivia Olson #1, Syla Swords #12, and Mila Holloway #3 of Michigan get some rest during a timeout during the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament game between Michigan and Notre Dame at Purcell Pavilion at The Joyce Center on March 23, 2025 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Miller/ISI Photos/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Big Ten headlined women’s basketball last season, featuring UCLA’s national championship, 12 NCAA Tournament teams and five of the 16 national host teams. Even with the Bruins graduating their six main rotation players, they’ll still be towards the top of the conference. But as UCLA’s 2026 Big Ten regular season and tournament titles affirm, having veteran focal points combined with cohesion developed through shared minutes on the court positions teams for championship runs.

With a crowded field of Big Ten contenders, it’s difficult to project one favorite. Yet one thing is clear: in terms of shared time on the court and talented pieces, Michigan has the best returning core in the conference.

The Wolverines — ranked No. 4 in ESPN’s way-too-early top-25 rankings — are primed for a big season. With the 2024 class of guards Olivia Olson, Syla Swords, Mila Holloway and Te’Yala Delfosse entering their third season, their veteran presence and game experience points towards another historic year.

The 2025-26 Michigan roster returned to, and surpassed, program highs, making the Wolverines’ second Elite Eight, earning the highest NCAA Tournament seed with a No. 2 seed and hosting the first two rounds in Ann Arbor. Olson was named an AP All-American third-teamer and All-Big Ten first-teamer along with Swords, a dynamic duo that can score at all three levels.

Yet what separates the Wolverines from other Big Ten contenders is the buy-in and all-out intensity that characterizes Michigan’s returning players.

Learning the “dog mentality” from former guard Brooke Quarles Daniels, the current junior class enacts their scrappy mentality in all aspects of the game. The defensive pressure that used to ensnare the Wolverines has now become a weapon in their own arsenal, fueling perhaps their most consistent offensive strength, transition offense. Junior forward Kendall Dudley was a big part of that full-court press, and with a year to develop under head coach Kim Barnes Arico, she earned more minutes from a limited bench role to a pivotal game-changing substitute. Now considering senior forward Ashley Sofilkanich, the former Patriot League Player of the Year now with a year of Big Ten play under her belt in Michigan’s system, the Wolverines have four returning starters and six of their top seven rotation players.

Without falling victim to transfer portal poaching of its stars, Michigan is in a strong position to continue developing talent under KBA in alignment with her program mission: becoming the hardest working team in America. If Stanford graduate transfer forward Courtney Ogden slots smoothly into the rotation, her veteran experience in conjunction with Michigan’s already-talented roster will even better position the Wolverines at the onset of the conference season. In the 18-game Big Ten slate, each team only gets one repeat opponent, heightening the importance of rosters gelling quickly in-game before the December start.

USC is another top contender for best returning roster. While the Trojans have experienced significant turnover the last two seasons, they have three of the last four No. 1 recruits, as ranked by ESPN, in redshirt junior JuJu Watkins, sophomore Jazzy Davidson and freshman Saniyah Hall. With Watkins missing the 2025-26 season with a torn ACL, the 2026-27 season will be the first time the trio take the floor together.

Watkins and Davidson each found immense success as the individual focal points of USC’s offense. Watkins was named National Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 and National Player of the Year in 2024-25, and Davidson was the 2025-26 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the WBCA’s National Freshman of the Year.

Yet with two high-volume scorers on the same roster, combined with a strong freshman class, it may require time for the Trojans to find rhythm offensively. After losing five players to the portal, USC’s returning starters from last season are Davidson and Big Ten All-Defensive team junior forward Kennedy Smith. The Trojans have a lot of talent on paper, but with just two of those players familiar with each other and head coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s system, they will likely be stuck spending time developing cohesion that Michigan already possesses, particularly since Watkins, Davidson and Hall all virtually the same position.

Iowa, responsible for the only true lopsided losses in the Wolverines’ conference campaign last season, returns All-Big Ten first-team junior forward Ava Heiden., who averaged 18 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game on 64.1 percent shooting. Heiden shared the paint with former forward Hannah Stuelke, and now as the sole focal point for her third season with the Hawkeyes, she is likely to be the main force for Iowa. Heiden will be complemented by junior guard Taylor Stremlow (7.9 points per game) and Chit-Chat Wright (12.5 points per game) returning in the backcourt, but that’s the extent of the Hawkeyes’ returning starters.

Building a strong roster with portal supplement Dani Carnegie and the No. 7 ranked freshman recruit, wing McKenna Woliczko, Iowa is still ranked sixth in ESPN’s too-early rankings, a product of its talent and Heiden’s inside dominance. Without All-American first-team center Lauren Betts at UCLA in 2026-27, Heiden is arguably the best returning center and post player in the Big Ten. It’s difficult to overstate the impact a dominant post player can make, so Heiden immediately elevates the Hawkeyes and positions them for a strong season.

Iowa and USC will be incorporating new pieces into starting roles, while Michigan could potentially roll into the season with all but one piece of an Elite Eight core. With Olson, Swords, Holloway, Delfosse, Dudley and Sofilkanich — with three starting spots solidified for the past two seasons — the Wolverines have the most cohesive returning core in the conference that should help them separate from the pack early on.

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