Clara Strack is the best center in women's college basketball entering the 2026-27 season

Women’s college basketball saw a lot of really talented centers depart for the pros this offseason. UCLA’s Lauren Betts, South Carolina’s Madina Okot, Oklahoma’s Raegan Beers, Texas’ Kyla Oldacre and UConn’s Serah Williams were among the top centers in the country last year, and all of them are now out of college basketball.

So, the question begs — who will be the best center in the country in 2026-27? Well, there’s a very strong argument to be made for Kentucky’s Clara Strack, who is heading into her senior season in Lexington.

As a junior, Strack averaged 16.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game, leading Kentucky to its first Sweet 16 in a decade. She also became the first player in women’s college basketball history to record the following stats in a single season:

• 607 points
• 365 rebounds
• 91 blocks
• 68 assists
• 44 steals
• 25 made three-pointers

First player in NCAA DI Women’s Basketball history to accomplish all this in a single season! 🤝

Research: @coreyp08 pic.twitter.com/PvgyZ3THYT

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) April 30, 2026

If you want to go by ESPN’s list of the top 25 players heading into last season’s March Madness, Strack was tabbed as the 16th-best player overall and fourth-best center. Betts (6) and Beers (13) were ranked ahead of Strack, but so was Audi Crooks (12), who transferred to Oklahoma State from Iowa State this offseason. She’ll be a senior this year as well.

Strack and Crooks seem like the two frontrunners for who will be the best center next year, and in all honesty, more people would side with Crooks here than they would Strack. She averaged 25.8 points per game this past season, which ranked second in the country, only trailing Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes (27 PPG). Crooks also shot 64.9% from the field, second behind Gracie Merkle (72.5%), who transferred to Minnesota in April from Penn State.

Crooks is undoubtedly a remarkable player, but the one thing that she is that Strack is not is one-dimensional. She might step out 15-17 feet and knock down a jumper every once in a while, but other than that, Crooks’ entire offensive game is within the paint. That’s not a diss at her at all, that’s just reality. She is one-dimensional, but to be fair to her, she’s very, very good at what she does.

However, the argument to make for Strack is that the totality of her game and the impact she makes on both ends of the floor is more valuable than the lone offensive ability that Crooks brings. Strack is arguably one of the best defenders in the country, and Crooks is on the far opposite end of that spectrum. To say her defense needs some work would be an understatement.

Plus, when Strack puts together a season that has never, ever been done before, that should open some eyes. That should matter. Real quick, let’s compare Strack’s stats from last season to Crooks’.

Name	Clara Strack	Audi Crooks
Games Played	36	31
Points Per Game	16.9	25.8
Rebounds Per Game	10.1	7.7
Assists Per Game	1.9	1.7
Steals Per Game	1.2	0.3
Blocks Per Game	2.5	0.8
Field Goal %	48.2%	64.9%
3-Point %	25.0%	9.1%
Total Points	607	801
Total Rebounds	365	239
Total Assists	68	52
Total Steals	44	8
Total Blocks	91	24
3-Pointers Made	25	1
Stats Leading vs. Other	11	3

As you can see, Strack leads in 11 of those 14 statistics, which includes the games played difference. Now, that may seem like an unfair advantage toward Strack because she played five more games than Crooks did this year, but you could also argue that Kentucky advancing further in both its conference tournament (Kentucky made the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, Iowa State lost in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament) and the NCAA Tournament would say that Strack has a greater impact on winning than Crooks might.

However, if you just want to say that Kentucky had a better overall roster compared to Iowa State and comparing totals with the five-game difference is still unfair, then just know that the above stats wouldn’t change at all. Strack would still lead 11-3, even if Crooks recorded her averages for five extra games.

At the end of the day, numbers don’t lie, but neither does the eye test. You can see it in Crooks’ stats, but when you watch her play, you’ll quickly notice that everything is centered around her. If you don’t have elite shooters alongside her like Iowa State did last season, then you’re more than likely not going to be very good. Even then, the Cyclones had a bit of an underwhelming year, going 22-10 and getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Things could certainly be different now that she’s at Oklahoma State, but to this point, there’s certainly an argument to be made that Strack impacts winning more than Crooks does. Crooks puts up a lot of points very efficiently, but when you factor in everything that Strack brings to the table, it’s more than fair to think that Kentucky has the best center in women’s college basketball on its roster heading into the 2026-27 season.

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