Arizona women’s basketball head coach Becky Burke considers the 2025-26 season to be “Year 0” because of the late start, particularly on the recruiting trail. Year 1 could be quite impressive and it all starts with a top 20 recruiting class.
Both 247sports and ESPN have published their class rankings for incoming freshmen. 247 ranks the Wildcats’ 2026 class at No. 20 in both its internal and composite rankings. ESPN is even more impressed, placing Burke’s first full recruiting class at No. 17.
Arizona’s
class consists of six players after the recent additions of guard Arynn Finley and forward Karolina Ułan. In addition to Finely and Ułan, the Wildcats will add guards Makayla Presser-Palmer and Jasleen Green, as well as forwards Priyanka Ponnam and Callie Hinder.
247 rates both Finely and Green as four-star recruits. It is also quite a bit higher on Green than the other services. 247 has Green as the No. 53 player in its internal ranking. She dropped 13 spots in its composite ranking to No. 65. That’s related to her placement in the final ESPN SC Next 100 and the on3/Rivals rankings. Green is No. 62 nationally according to ESPN and No. 75 according to Rivals.
247’s national scout, Brandon Clay, last wrote about Green in July, 2025:
Green is a skilled option in the backcourt who can make shots and plays off the bounce. She proved herself to be amongst the southeast elite backcourt options in the junior class. Green might not be the quickest guard from end-to-end, but she finds a way to get where she’s going. Green’s ability to make positive plays playing on or off the basketball is a potential separator at the collegiate level. If Green can find her way to buckets in college like she has in high school, she’ll be a key addition to a NCAA Tournament caliber program roster.
In addition to its internal national rankings, 247 has Green as the No. 9 shooting guard and No. 7 player from Florida in those rankings. Its composite rankings place her at No. 12 among shooting guards and No. 8 from Florida.
Rivals also breaks down its rankings between “industry rankings” and internal rankings. In its industry ranking, Green is No. 75 nationally, No. 13 as a combo guard, and No. 9 in Florida. Those industry rankings include ESPN, which had Green at 59 at the time but have since dropped her to No. 62. The internal rankings for Rivals place her No. 81 overall, No. 15 at combo guard, and No. 9 from Florida.
Finley comes in as Arizona’s top-ranked player in the ESPN, 247, and Rivals rankings. In April of 2025, Clay wrote:
Finley is a smooth, skilled option on the perimeter. She’s shown herself capable of making shots in a variety of ways during school and club season. Finley played this school year for Etiwanda, one of the best teams in America. She is now serving as a key piece to a 7 Days roster that is amongst the best in the country. Her ability to hit open shots from the midrange or beyond the arc is a major key. That’s a specialty that she will look to bring to the next level.
She is No. 52 in the 247 composite rankings. That ranking has her as the No. 8 shooting guard and No. 6 player in the state of California. She is No. 56 nationally in the internal 247 rankings, while coming in as the No. 10 shooting guard and No. 7 player in California.
Rivals has Finely as the No. 49 player nationally in its industry ranking. It has her as the No. 18 shooting guard, and No. 7 player in California. Internally, Rivals ranks her as the No. 43 player nationally, No. 16 shooting guard, and No. 6 player in the state.
ESPN places Finley at No. 53 overall.
ESPN and Rivals also rank Presser-Palmer, although 247 does not have her in its rankings. The Rivals industry ranking have her at No. 73 nationally, No. 24 at the shooting guard position, and No. 4 in the state of Pennsylvania. That ranking partially considered ESPN’s placement of her at No. 55 in the country. She has since dropped to No. 65 in the final ESPN rankings.
The internal Rivals rankings have Presser-Palmer at No. 80 nationally. She stands at No. 25 among shooting guards and No. 4 in Pennsylvania.
While not in its top 100, ESPN has Hinder rated as a three-star recruit. She was the No. 2 player from the state of Arizona. She joined the Wildcats in January.
Although her name was misspelled, Ponnam was listed as a three-star recruit in ESPN’s class of 2025 evaluations.
Ułan is an international player who has been playing in the Polish women’s league.
The Wildcats also have a transfer class of point guard Aliyahna ‘Puff’ Morris, forward Gerda Raulušaitytė, forward Breanna Williams, and forward Anastasiia Semenova.
ESPN’s class rankings place Arizona first in the Big 12. Kansas (No. 20) and Arizona State (No. 25) also get into its top 25 classes out of the conference.
247’s composite rankings have the Wildcats third in the Big 12 behind Kansas (No. 12) and Utah (No. 13). UCF (No. 42), ASU (No. 45), Cincinnati (No. 50), and Oklahoma State (No. 51) follow UA.
