photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guards S'Mya Nichols and Wyvette Mayberry talk during free throws Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, against BYU.

After just one season at the collegiate level, Kansas’ incoming sophomore S’Mya Nichols made enough of an impression to earn a preseason all-conference selection ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

The honor, which was announced on Thursday, follows the 6-foot guard’s all-conference first-team recognition at the end of her freshman year. Nichols was the leading scorer on a veteran team, tallying 15.4 points per game, and will now serve as one of the central figures on a new-look roster.

Perhaps as a result of its lost experience from a year ago, the Big 12 coaches picked KU to finish eighth in the newly expanded 16-team league. While that exceeds the Jayhawks’ last-place projection from 2021, it falls well short of the fifth-place selection in 2022 and third-place selection in 2023.

Last year, the Jayhawks came in seventh, though they were just a few games removed from the league’s top teams. They ultimately reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, beating Michigan and falling to USC, before losing longtime program fixtures like Zakiyah Franklin, Taiyanna Jackson and Holly Kersgieter to graduation.

Head coach Brandon Schneider received a contract extension in the offseason, and KU reloaded, pairing returnees like Nichols and guard Wyvette Mayberry with key transfers such as wings Elle Evans (North Dakota State) and Jordan Webster (UC Riverside) and guard Sania Copeland (Wisconsin).

One potential area of concern is in the post, where KU will look to some combination of returning reserves Nadira Eltayeb and Danai Papadopoulou, JUCO transfer Freddie Wallace and freshman Regan Williams to take up significant minutes.

Ayoka Lee of Kansas State was named the preseason player of the year, Baylor’s Aaronette Vonleh and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith earned co-newcomer of the year honors and Tabitha Betson of Colorado is the preseason freshman of the year.