ESPN shares player comps for top Iowa women's basketball recruiting targets

USA Today

6 days ago

As the 2025-26 women's college basketball season approaches, ESPN shared player comparisons for some of the game's top 2026 recruiting targets, including two that have the interest of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Coming off a year in which the Hawkeyes found their way back to the NCAA Tournament and notched a win, head coach Jan Jensen is continuing to reload the roster with high-level talent from the recruiting ranks. Iowa has transformed itself into a national player in the women's college basketball recruiting world and is now among the favorites for the nation's best.
Kate Harping
The first of the two top prospects discussed was 5-foot-10 guard Kate Harping, who attends Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia.
In her junior year, Harping averaged a staggering 32.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.1 steals, 3.7 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the War Eagles (29-3) to the Class AAAA state semifinals.
According to the article, ESPN compared Harping to Florida State's senior guard Ta'Niya Latson based on her aggressiveness off the dribble and physicality at the rim that translates to superior scoring, rebounding, facilitating, and 3-point shooting marksmanship.
Harpring is as aggressive as it gets off the dribble. Combine that with her physicality at the rim, and she looks a lot like Latson. Both score, rebound, facilitate and are respectable 3-point shooters.
Latson led the nation in scoring last year with 25.2 points per game and has already eclipsed 2,000 career points in college. She had a reputation early as a player who attacks the rim hard, then rounded out her game by adding shooting range. She also averaged more than four assists and steals rebounds per game last season. Both players create easy offense by forcing turnovers via their defense ball pressure. Harpring is a capable shooter-she averaged 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the 3SSB league-but prefers drives and pull-ups, so her natural evolution will come from beyond the 3-point line, much like Latson. - Shane Laflin, ESPN
Harper is considered a five-star and ranked No. 1 prospect in the state, No. 1 in the point guard position, and No. 1 overall recruit in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports' 2026 Top Women's Basketball rankings.
Given her top ranking, Harping holds 11 additional offers outside of Iowa, including some of the game's legacy programs, such as UConn, LSU, South Carolina, and Notre Dame.
McKenna Woliczko
The second of the two Hawkeyes recruits discussed by ESPN was McKenna Woliczko, who currently attends Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif.
The five-star, 6-foot-2 wing is ranked as the No. 6 player nationally by ESPN, On3, and 247Sports. According to 247Sports, Woliczko is the country's No. 2 power forward and the No. 2 player from California. On3 rates Woliczko as the nation's top shooting guard and as the No. 2 player from California.
Despite an ACL injury ending her junior season, Woliczko has put up impressive numbers during her prep career, averaging 20.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game during her freshman season and 22 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game with Archbishop Mitty during her sophomore campaign.
Regarding the article, ESPN compares Woliczko to Baylor's senior guard Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, highlighting her ability to play bigger than her size, aggressiveness on the glass, and confidence extending out to the mid-range, as well as her potential to improve her 3-point efficiency.
Although Woliczko has missed some time due to injury since the high school season, her effort and motor have left major impressions among recruiters. Both she and Littlepage-Buggs (6-1) play bigger than their listed size, as they attack the glass and refuse blockouts by defenders. They're also nice shooters out to the extended mid-range, and are working to improve from deep.
But the prevailing similarity between these two players is their effort and willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Littlepage-Buggs averaged 15 points and 10.4 rebounds per game this season for the Bears. Woliczko was a double-double machine in high school as well, prior to injury. - Shane Laflin, ESPN
Regarding her recruitment, she named Iowa, Ohio State, South Carolina, and USC among the final four choices on June 12. She also scheduled her official visit to Iowa City over Labor Day weekend.
While the two Iowa women's basketball prospects named amongst the 10 premier recruits named in the article will generate significant attention from competing schools, it is clear that the Hawkeyes are not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the nation's elite programs.
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