Pac-12 women's basketball with 24 combined entries on watch lists for the Wade Trophy, Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy

SAN FRANCISCO – Watch lists for the Wade Trophy, Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy were announced on Tuesday morning and feature a combined 24 Pac-12 entries among the early-season candidates for three of the most prestigious national player of the year awards in women’s college basketball.

Eleven players from nine schools make up the Conference’s 24 selections and the Pac-12 has more players on the Wooden Award (10) and Naismith Trophy (9) watch lists than any other league.

When combined with the watch lists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Starting 5 positional awards, which were unveiled the week of Oct. 25 and featured an additional 17 Pac-12 selections, the Conference’s 41 overall watch list candidates are tied for the most in the country (SEC) and are the most on a per membership basis (3.42/member).

The Pac-12 boasts five total winners of the Wade Trophy, including three of the past four in Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu (2019, 2020) and Washington’s Kelsey Plum (2017). USC’s Cheryl Miller won the award in 1985, prior to the start of Pac-12 women’s basketball in 1986-87, and Washington State head coach Kamie Ethridge took it home a year later in 1986 as a player at Texas.

Pac-12 players have earned all four of their Wooden Awards in the past eight years – Chiney Ogwumike (Stanford – 2014), Plum (2017), Ionescu (2019, 2020) – and five total Naismith Trophies – Jennifer Azzi (Stanford – 1990), Lisa Leslie (USC – 1994), Kate Starbird (Stanford – 1997), Plum (2017), Ionescu (2020) – outside of Miller’s back-to-back-to-back awards from 1984-86.

Since 2017, Pac-12 players have also combined to win eight Naismith Starting 5 positional awards, the most among all leagues during that span - four Nancy Lieberman Awards (point guard), one Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (shooting guard), one Cheryl Miller Award (small forward) and two Katrina McClain Awards (power forward).

WATCH LIST CANDIDATES BY CONFERENCE
[Wade Trophy, Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, Naismith Starting 5]

WATCH LIST CANDIDATES BY PAC-12 SCHOOL