IMAGINING THE 2025-2026 INDIANA UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM

Do not get it twisted, there are an abundance of things to like about scary Teri’s active IUWBB roster. The 2024-2025 season campaign began a bit bumpy, but the Hoosiers are currently riding a 5-game winning streak into today’s matchup at home with Wisconsin (tips off at 2 PM EST on BTN). If they come away victorious versus the Badgers, there is a solid chance we see the cream and crimson back in the national top 25 rankings after losing that designation just a few *sluggish* games into this chapter of Indiana University women’s basketball.

While we should all be focused on the present wave of momentum that the current team is riding midway through the year, it is not easy to keep the mind from wandering off down the road into the future. More specifically, tantalizing thoughts of what this team could look like next season make it tough to stay fixated on what this team can do this season.

There are no parallel universes that exist in which this program will not miss this season’s seniors. Sydney Parrish and Chloe Moore-McNeil, AKA the OG’s, are among the most beloved B-Town ballers to grace the Assembly Hall hardwood in recent memory. Factor in the loss of Karoline Striplin, who has been HOOPING over the last 3 games (20.3 PPG on an otherworldly 83.8% shooting), and there will undoubtedly be some sizable shoes to fill.

Thankfully, Teri Moren and her coaching companions have already secured commitments from 2x Top 100 players within the impending freshman class of 2025.

Maya Makalusky (Fishers, IN), a 6’3” forward, is the #1 recruit in the state of Indiana and is currently ranked as the #35 recruit in the entire nation by ESPN. Makalusky is an incredibly versatile wing player with the offensive bag to lead the team in scoring from the jump and the physical tools to develop into a top shelf team defender as time progresses. She can splash shots off both the catch and the dribble. She can create for both herself and her teammates. Her frame may be slender, but she is gritty enough to contribute on both the boards and in the paint (her post game is a work in progress but her highlights have yielded some glimpses of untapped potential in that area). She is the highest-rated recruit in this program’s history, and when you watch her play you can see a lot of the same qualities that you see when you watch Sydney Parrish play.

Nevaeh Caffey (Warrenton, MO), a 5’10” point guard, checks in a bit lower on ESPN’s national rankings at #67 as of this moment. Caffey may be a bit less touted than her fellow frosh, but she has the skillset to make just as much of an impact as Makalusky next year (if not more). She is not as widely renowned for her scoring tendencies, but has earned the reputation of an intelligent floor general who wreaks havoc at the point of attack defensively (CMM 2.0?). Caffey has showcased a preference for setting up her teammates over scoring herself, but that is not to say that she cannot put the ball in the bucket. She is more than capable of hitting outside shots and/or skirting past defenders and finishing through contact at the cup. Her arrival will alleviate most (if not all) of the pain that will come with Moore-McNeil’s departure.

There will certainly be a slippage in experience, but there should be no lapse in talent with those 2x freshman phenoms entering the fold. With them in the mix and a core of solid returnees, Indiana should once again find themselves in the thick of the most talented teams in the country. There is no telling what their exact roles will look like and/or if there will be any further additions to this team via the inbound freshman class/transfer portal, but we have a pretty good guess at to what the rotation could/should look like when next season begins.

STARTERS

PG = Lexus Bargesser | 5’9” | Junior

SG = Shay Ciezki | 5’7” | Junior

SF = Maya Makalusky | 6’3” | Freshman

PF = Yarden Garzon | 6’3” | Senior

C = Lilly Meister | 6’3” | Senior

BENCH

PG = Nevaeh Caffey | 5’9” | Junior

SG = Lenee Beaumont | 6’1” | Sophomore (RS)

SF = Henna Sandvik | 6’0” | Senior

PF = Julianna LaMendola | 6’1” | Junior

C = Faith Wiseman | 6’4” | Sophomore

RESERVES

SG = Valentyna Kadlecova | 6’0” | Sophomore

PF = Sharnecce Currie-Jelks | 6’1” | Senior

PF = Sydney Fenn | 6’3” | Freshman (RS)

When you take a moment to analyze and dissect the rotation above, can you see why we are getting so giddy?

The active squad’s top 3 scorers Yarden Garzon (14.2 PPG), Shay Ciezki (11.8 PPG) and Lilly Meister (11.1 PPG) will be back to lead the scoring charge (with some incoming support from Makalusky). Lexus Bargesser, Julianna LaMendola and Henna Sandvik will be back to fill in the cracks and take care of the little things (with some incoming support from Caffey). We should see a leap from this season’s most prized recruit Faith Wiseman, who will be a major key to the Hoosiers’ success in 2025-2026. With a full year back on the court under her belt, Sharnecce Currie-Jelks should be closer to the version of herself that made her such a huge pickup when she transferred from Tennessee Martin 2x years ago. Valentyna Kadlecova has shown some flashes of serious potential in extremely limited minutes this year, and there is no telling what type of step forward she will make in her second go-round with IU. Finally, Lenee Beaumont and Sydney Fenn should be fully recovered from the respective knee injuries which have kept and will keep them off the court for the duration of the 2024-2025 campaign.

The words on this page are by no means meant as slander towards the active Indiana University women’s basketball season. We had high hopes for this team heading into the season and still have faith in their ability to make some things happen throughout the rest of the year. You can say what you want and think what you please about us getting ahead of ourselves, but hopefully you can at least understand where our high level of eagerness stems from with regards to this topic.

Keep going, ladies!