Outside of the Player of the Year award and the all-conference teams, the Horizon League also selects several other individual awards at the end of each season. Here are our preseason picks to win those honors:
| Award | Name | School |
|---|---|---|
| Coach of the Year | Chandler McCabe | Robert Morris |
| Newcomer of the Year | Bailey Kuhns | Robert Morris |
| Freshman of the Year | Sarah Baker | Youngstown State |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Aaliyah McQueen | Detroit Mercy |
| Sixth Player of the Year | Gracie Grzesk | Green Bay |
Under “normal” definitions, Chandler McCabe would have had an excellent chance at the Horizon League’s Coach of the Year award last season, given the way she instantly elevated Robert Morris from bottom feeder to contender. However, the HL honor carries an unofficial prerequisite of a top-two conference finish, and Purdue Fort Wayne’s Maria Marchesano won the vote after guiding the Mastodons to within a hair of a championship. Of course, Marchesano herself was boxed out of Coach of the Year accolades in 2023-24, the season when PFW made the biggest jump in the program’s progression, a near-perfect comparison to what McCabe experienced last year. Does RMU have the horsepower to make the final move from good to great? With a massive transfer class headlined by Aislin Malcolm, Bailey Kuhns, and Eva Levingston, there’s a pretty good chance. And if that does happen, McCabe should be duly rewarded by the conference.
Given how the transfer portal has become the primary way teams fill their most urgent needs, generally with well-established college players, it could be argued that Newcomer of the Year is the Horizon League’s second-most-competitive individual award. Of course, an unusual number of top transfer additions this year, including Maddy Skorupski, Kamy Peppler, and Kailee Davis, were already in the conference previously, knocking them out of the running for this honor. One projected star who wasn’t, however, is Robert Morris forward Bailey Kuhns. Kuhns, from Mount Pleasant, PA – just on the other side of Pittsburgh from Hoop Township – spent her first three seasons at Mercyhurst, and developed into the sort of workhorse that the Colonials haven’t had in quite some time. On the way to All-NEC First Team honors, she averaged 20.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season for the Lakers, thanks partly to a 32.9 percent usage rate.
Ahead of last season, we selected Youngstown State’s Sarah Baker as our preseason Freshman of the Year, and she certainly didn’t disappoint, winning three of the Horizon League’s first five weekly awards for rookies. Then, just after earning her first starting assignment and logging 16 points and seven rebounds against Milwaukee on December 4, 2024, she was lost for the year to injury. The silver lining to what’s always a brutal situation is that Baker was able to take a redshirt, retaining her eligibility both with the NCAA and for the HL’s conference freshman honors. So why not run it back? If there’s a reason for pause, it’s that YSU’s frontcourt is absolutely loaded. That includes Sophia Gregory, who picked up Baker’s baton and sprinted to the postseason Freshman of the Year award with it, as well as Faith Burch, Ashlynn Van Tassell, and now, Paulina Hernandez. Still, Baker is good enough to find her way on the floor plenty within that group.
As good as Aaliyah McQueen is offensively for Detroit Mercy, including 13.6 points per game last season and a lethal jumper from just about anywhere inside the arc, what really sets the All-Horizon League Third Teamer apart is her defense. In 2024-25 McQueen ranked fourth in the conference in rebounding (7.4 per game, and her defensive rebounding average of 6.2 placed second), third in steals (1.9 per game), and, for good measure, she threw in 0.6 blocks per game, which tied for second among HL guards. After all of that, she…didn’t even make the league’s all-defensive team at the end of the year. However, Detroit Mercy is now aimed at a title with a veteran team; should the Titans end up among the championship shortlist, they’ll certainly see an improved individual awards haul as well.
The HL’s coaches still might not be settled on their starting lineups at this point, so guessing who won’t start, but will still contribute heavily to their team’s fortunes seems like a fool’s errand. That said, Green Bay’s depth presents plenty of possibilities, given the Phoenix’s eight or nine starting-caliber players trying to fit into five spots on the court. Among that group, Gracie Grzesk is as good of a candidate as anyone to end up as Kayla Karius’ super sub. Grzesk has one important qualification in her corner: at 5-11, she possesses the size and skill to play multiple positions. She didn’t receive much of a chance as a true freshman at Wisconsin last season, but was extremely highly regarded at Green Bay’s Notre Dame Academy prior to that. Among her scholastic accomplishments were 1,835 points, three state championships, and all-state honors from both the AP and WBCA.
Preview Week 2025-26
MBB: Preseason Poll | Preseason All-League | Preseason Awards
WBB: Preseason Poll | Preseason All-League | Preseason Awards
Cleveland State (MBB | WBB) | Detroit Mercy (MBB | WBB) | Green Bay (MBB | WBB) | IU Indy (MBB | WBB)
Milwaukee (MBB | WBB) | Northern Kentucky (MBB | WBB) | Oakland (MBB | WBB) | Purdue Fort Wayne (MBB | WBB)
Robert Morris (MBB | WBB) | Wright State (MBB | WBB) | Youngstown State (MBB | WBB)
