Teams can begin preseason practice next week, which means it is time to catch up on the rest of the SEC.

Alabama

After a breakout season last year, Alabama’s offseason has to be considered a little disappointing. The Crimson Tide were led by seniors Jasmine Walker, Jordan Lewis, and Ariyah Copeland. Walker departed for the WNBA, where she was drafted seventh overall by Los Angeles. Lewis and Copeland elected to take advantage of the NCAA’s eligibility waiver and return to college for another season - only to decide to transfer. Copeland initially transferred to LSU and then ended up at Arizona. Lewis transferred to Baylor.

Alabama adds top-75 recruit Kayla Blackshear, but it’s going to be tough not to take a step back from last season.

Arkansas

Mike Neighbors got a contract extension and a raise, something that had been tabled last summer as a result of the pandemic. Amber Ramirez chose to return for her super senior season. Arkansas also signed the 25th-ranked recruiting class, but it includes two top-15 players. One of those, guard Jersey Wolfenbarger, is the heir-apparent to Chelsea Dungee. Wolfenbarger not only has an awesome name, but she won a gold medal with the Team USA U19 team this summer and is a 6-5 guard that ESPN tagged as the possible steal of the class. Given Arkansas’ style of play, she could be a perfect fit and put up huge numbers right away.

Auburn

Auburn returns nine players from last season’s team, but lost superstar Unique Thompson. Guard Honesty Scott-Grayson, who was Auburn’s second-leading scorer last season, will have to shoulder an even heavier load this season. It looks like it will be a tough growing season for new coach Johnnie Harris.

Florida

It was a strange summer in Gainesville. On July 14, star guard Lavender Briggs, the best player Florida has had in a long time, entered the transfer portal. Two days later, and just six weeks after signing a contract extension, head coach Cam Newbauer resigned, citing personal reasons. Associate head coach Kelly Rae Finley was promoted to interim head coach. Then Briggs changed her mind and returned to Florida. A strange summer indeed.

Update: On September 27, details of abuse by Newbauer, including racially charged incidents, became public. In a statement, Florida AD Scott Stricklin seemed to confirm the allegations, and confirmed he knew about allegations when they were made, saying, “these concerns were addressed directly with Cam as we required corrective actions and outlined clear expectations of behavior moving forward. Additionally, the UAA provided enhanced administrative oversight and presence within the program and sought anonymous feedback directly from student-athletes and staff.

Ultimately, we did not see the required improvements, and following discussions with Coach Newbauer he made the decision to resign.”

This statement contradicts the fact that Stricklin originally gave Newbauer a contract extension in June despite knowing of the abuse, and then praised him following his resignation. Additionally, interim head coach Kelly Rae Finley has been implicated as complicit in the abuse. It doesn’t sound like this is over.

Georgia

The Lady Bulldogs, on the other hand, had a really good summer. Joni Taylor got a contract extension and a raise, she signed two McDonald’s all-Americans as part of the 14th-ranked recruiting class, and basically every player except Gabby Connally elected to return. That means one more year with All-SEC Jenna Staiti and SEC Defensive Co-Player of the year Que Morrison, both super seniors. Georgia certainly looks like it will be able to build on last season’s success.

Kentucky

New year, same challenge: Can Kentucky get enough production around Rhyne Howard to challenge the conference’s elite? The Wildcats spent the last couple offseasons upgrading their talent level, both through the transfer portal and recruiting. This offseason the big addition isn’t a player, but a coach. Kyra Elzy added Hall of Famer Gail Goestenkors, an offensive guru, to her staff. The challenge is to keep Howard’s teammates involved without stifling her talent, and hopefully rise to the upper level of the SEC.

This season will be something of a reckoning for Howard’s legacy. She has a chance to join A’ja Wilson as the only three-time SEC player-of the year (although Aliyah Boston will have something to say about that). But Howard doesn’t have the wins to go with the individual accolades. In Howard’s career, Kentucky has yet to make it out of the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and has made it to the SEC tournament semifinals just once, where it suffered a blowout loss.

Part 2 will run next week.