The stars of the heralded New England girls Class of 2025 have taken their first-day-of-school pics and started the college basketball journey. That means we're just two short months from seeing them compete at the next level.
We have 36 Division 1 athletes in our 2025 database, including New England natives and New England prep school stars, who are capable of succeeding. But the standard to earn rotation minutes as a freshman has never been higher. I'm only listing one third of those talents with a good chance to earn playing time this winter.
I tried a similar exercise last year and did fairly well. Seven of my ten freshman picks averaged at least 10 minutes per game, with the most productive being Patriot League All-Rookie member Cecilia Kay (now at St. Joseph's) and Purdue starting center Lana McCarthy. But I also missed on some big-time contributors like Mary Gibbons at Navy and Camryn Collins at Rider (now at Northeastern).
This list does not represent my top 12 college prospects for the 2025 class. It importantly takes into account the pathway for playing time on the current roster — veterans returning, transfer additions and program needs, in addition to a players' talent. Here are the 12 freshmen I'm banking on carving out an early role (plus some honorable mentions).
