Poll era G-O-A-T? Current USA Basketball players say it's Breanna Stewart, others might disagree

No one will ever top what Breanna Stewart did in college at UConn, winning four national championships and the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament each time.

Her success sets her apart as the Greatest Of All Time, at least in the eyes of nearly a dozen players and coaches at a USA Basketball camp this month. When asked who they believe tops their list of college players during the last 50 years of the women’s poll era, Stewart was their choice.

“That's unheard of,” said Kahleah Copper, who starred at Rutgers at the same time Stewart was dominating at UConn. “That's super tough. I'm thinking about someone's individual success, but also they had to have success as a team. It's not just about your individual successes.”

That is part of what makes it such an entertaining debate. It is hard to argue with Stewart's success, but others could challenge for the G-O-A-T title.

As part of its season-long coverage of the 50-year anniversary of the poll, a panel comprised of former players, coaches and AP journalists voted on the greatest college players during the poll era. Stewart, Cheryl Miller and Diana Taurasi headlined the list along with Caitlin Clark.

Stewart, Taurasi and Clark were mentioned by many of the players at the camp, which reflected a youth movement in USA Basketball. Many of their answers to the question seemed to reflect an out-of-sight, out-of-mind thought process as they tended to focus on players they saw play during their lifetime or former greats at their respective colleges, or who they had heard about.

Paige Bueckers had Stewart, Maya Moore, Taurasi and Candace Parker on her Mount Rushmore of college players.

“I think they are the ultimate competitors and winners. They’ve all won multiple national titles,” Bueckers said. “The way they lead and carry themselves.”

There was a tinge of appreciation for some of the game's pioneers like Miller, Anne Meyers, Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie.

USA Basketball coach Kara Lawson starred at Tennessee in the late 1990s when the Lady Vols were winning national championships. She played with some of the best in the history of that program before becoming Duke's coach, and she was a top analyst for ESPN, too.

Her starting five was “Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw, Diana Taruasi, Candace Parker and Breanna Stewart."

Sue Bird, among the players chosen for the AP’s all-time team, felt that “being able to carry a team to a championship or really far in the tournament,” was huge. She had Stewart, Taurasi, Parker, Miller and Clark near the top of her list.

While winning was the most important thing to players, many also said it was important what a player had done for the sport as a whole.

“Winning is a big part of that of course, but you know, when I think of them, they went on to just be really phenomenal players and people. I think also what they've done for the sport in general,” said Cameron Brink, who chose Parker, Stewart, Jennifer Azzi and Dawn Staley.

UCLA center Lauren Betts, currently one of the best college players in the country, not surprisingly favored post players. The 6-foot-7 Betts picked two recent icons who have inspired her — Aliyah Boston and A’ja Wilson.

“Amazing to just admire two people that are just such amazing people off the court and they’re just so dominant inside,” Betts said.

Longtime analyst Deb Antonelli, who was on the AP voting panel to choose the greatest college players, said it wasn't the current players' fault for not knowing about some of the past greats who didn't get the television or social media exposure current players do.

“It's a great frame of reference for how much the game has grown and the appreciation and gratitude for where they get to be,” she said. “What they get to do now was built on the shoulders of past greats like Ann Meyers, Nancy Lieberman and Cheryl Miller.”

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FILE - Connecticut's Breanna Stewart starts a fast break against Mississippi State during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the regional semifinals of the women's NCAA Tournament, March 26, 2016, in Bridgeport, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones blasted apartment buildings and the power grid in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa in an overnight attack that injured six people, including a toddler and two other children, officials said Wednesday.

Four apartment buildings were damaged in the bombardment, according to regional military administration head Oleh Kiper. Power company DTEK said two of its energy facilities suffered significant damage. The company said that 10 substations that distribute electricity in the Odesa region were damaged in December alone.

Russia has this year escalated its long-range attacks on urban areas of Ukraine. In recent months, as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor approaches its four-year milestone in February, it has also intensified its targeting of energy infrastructure, seeking to deny Ukrainians heat and running water in the bitter winter months.

From January to November this year, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier this month. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023, it said.

Russia’s sustained drone and missile attacks have taken place against backdrop of renewed diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and announced that a settlement is “closer than ever before." The Ukrainian leader is due to hold talks next week with the heads of European governments supporting his efforts to secure acceptable terms.

The ongoing attacks, meantime, are inflaming tensions.

The overnight Odesa strikes “are further evidence of the enemy’s terror tactics, which deliberately target civilian infrastructure,” Kiper, the regional head, said.

Moscow has alleged that Ukraine attempted to attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia with 91 long-range drones late Sunday and early Monday. Ukrainian officials deny the claim and say it’s a ruse to derail progress in the peace negotiations.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Romanenkov of the Russian air force claimed Wednesday that the drones took off from Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

At a briefing where no questions were allowed, he presented a map showing the drone flight routes before they were downed by Russian air defenses over the Bryansk, Tver, Smolensk and Novgorod regions.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports.

Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that Russia fired 127 drones at the country during the night, with 101 of them intercepted by air defenses.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 86 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian regions, the Black Sea and the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula.

The Ukrainian attack started a fire at an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, but it was quickly put out, local authorities said.

This story has corrected the day of the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian president’s residence to late Sunday and early Monday, instead of late Saturday and early Sunday.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, a Russian Army soldier fires from D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)