Already you can hear the buzz among Stanford women’s basketball fans: Wait ’til next season.

There’s plenty of reason for excitement. Four starters will be back from this season’s Elite Eight team, along with the second-rated incoming class in the country — including the top recruit, Haley Jones of Mitty.

With Notre Dame, Baylor and UConn all losing key players — and possibly Oregon, too — the Cardinal should be in the hunt for their first national title since 1992.

Besides Jones, the freshman class will have three members of the espnW/HoopGurlz top-50: 6-foot-5 post Ashten Prechtel of Colorado Springs; dunking sensation Fran Belibi of Aurora, Colo., and point guard Hannah Jump of Pinewood-Los Altos Hills.

In case you’re wondering: South Carolina will have the top class, including four of the top 13 players.

Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer has nothing to complain about, though. Among her returners will be guards Kiana Williams and DiJonai Carrington, both of whom should be All-America candidates. Maya Dodson, Nadia Fingall (due back from her knee injury in September) and twins Lacie and Lexie Hull add to a solid nucleus.

All-America forward Alanna Smith, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, is off to the WNBA. The only other loss is center Shannon Coffee, who made herself a key reserve after three years as mainly a practice player.

Who will be the low-post scoring threat without Smith? “That’s the $64,000 question,” VanDerveer said.

VanDerveer hopes Dodson and/or Fingall become that person. Maybe it will be Belibi, who became only the second woman to win the dunk contest at the McDonald’s All-American Game. With no shortage of chutzpah, she wore a cape for her last dunk, leaping over a girl in a chair.

“Everybody’s excited about the fact she can dunk,” VanDerveer said, “but we hope she can help us rebound, score on the low block, get the ball like Nneka or Chiney (Ogwumike) would do and go up over people and score on them.”

VanDerveer pointed out Belibi has played only since ninth grade, but “she’s a quick study.”

The Cardinal reached the Elite Eight before losing to defending national champion Notre Dame, which outrebounded Stanford 48-38.

“This is very disappointing,” VanDerveer said, “but I hope it’s motivating for our team to go from the Elite Eight to be a Final Four team and have a chance to win a national championship.”

Where to play Jones (who’s 6-1) is a choice any college coach would love to face; she can play any position.

“She’s really good with the ball in her hands, but her versatility and size set her apart from other players,” VanDerveer said. “We’re going to take advantage of that, no doubt.”

Williams, the team’s leading returning scorer, might remain the point guard after a season in which she played practically every minute of every close game. Or she and Jones could share the point, with Carrington and the Hull twins on the wings.

Carrington figures to be the team’s emotional leader. Although 5-11, she will be the leading returning rebounder. Stanford hopes the Hulls will improve their 3-point shooting and driving to go with their defensive skills. Lacie typically was asked to guard the opponent’s best backcourt threat.

Stanford’s best perimeter shooter next year very well might be Jump.

“She’s a 3-point shooter extraordinaire,” VanDerveer said. “You cannot leave her open. She’ll help stretch the floor and open things up for Maya and Nadia inside.”

Blending all these talents will be a major challenge. VanDerveer hasn’t had a team this deep in many years, if ever. She warns not to discount guards Anna Wilson and Jenna Brown and forward Alyssa Jerome.

“They’re smart; they’re Stanford students,” she said. “They know it’s going to be very competitive. The returners have a better sense of how hard you have to work to get ready for a Notre Dame or a Baylor. I’m confident the freshmen are going to be in a battle, a big battle.”

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald