From the Los Angeles Athletic Club:
The John R. Wooden Award announced the Women’s Preseason Top 30 today on ESPN’s SportsCenter and on ESPNW. The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The list is chosen by a preseason poll of national women’s college basketball media members.
2015 John R. Wooden Award winner Breanna Stewart of Connecticut headlines this year’s preseason Top 30 list and is looking to become the fifth women’s player to win the award twice. Two other 2015 Wooden Award All Americans join Stewart on the list: Nina Davis of Baylor and Tiffany Mitchell of South Carolina.
The defending NCAA champion Huskies feature three players on the list: Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck and Stewart. Along with Connecticut, South Carolina also has three candidates (Alaina Coates, Mitchell and A’ja Wilson). Baylor, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas A&M each have a pair of players selected.
Seven conferences are represented on the list with the SEC boasting seven selections, followed by the ACC and Big Ten with six apiece. The American Athletic Conference has four selections, the Big 12 and Pac-12 have three apiece and the Atlantic 10 has one pick. Of the players on the Preseason Top 30 list, 23 out of 30 are upperclassmen, including 12 seniors. No freshman made the list. Interestingly, two players named Courtney Williams made the list (South Florida, Texas A&M).
Players not chosen to the preseason list are eligible for both the midseason list and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the Final Four.
2015-16 John R. Wooden Award
Preseason Top 30
| Name | Height | Class | Position | University | Conference |
| Lindsay Allen |
5-8 |
Jr. |
G |
Notre Dame | ACC |
| Jillian Alleyne |
6-3 |
Sr. |
F |
Oregon | Pac-12 |
| Ameryst Alston |
5-9 |
Sr. |
G |
Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Adut Bulgak |
6-4 |
Sr. |
C |
Florida State | ACC |
| Alaina Coates |
6-4 |
Jr. |
C |
South Carolina | SEC |
| Nia Coffey |
6-1 |
Jr. |
F |
Northwestern | Big Ten |
| Nina Davis# |
5-11 |
Jr. |
F |
Baylor | Big 12 |
| Diamond DeShields |
6-1 |
Soph. |
G |
Tennessee | SEC |
| Rebecca Greenwell |
6-1 |
Soph. |
G |
Duke | ACC |
| Bria Holmes |
6-1 |
Sr. |
G |
West Virginia | Big 12 |
| Moriah Jefferson |
5-7 |
Sr. |
G |
Connecticut | The American |
| Niya Johnson |
5-8 |
Sr. |
G |
Baylor | Big 12 |
| Brionna Jones |
6-3 |
Jr. |
C |
Maryland | Big Ten |
| Jonquel Jones |
6-4 |
Sr. |
F |
George Washington | Atlantic 10 |
| Kelsey Mitchell |
5-8 |
Soph. |
G |
Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Tiffany Mitchell# |
5-9 |
Sr. |
G |
South Carolina | SEC |
| Kelsey Plum |
5-8 |
Jr. |
G |
Washington | Pac-12 |
| Aerial Powers |
6-0 |
Jr. |
F |
Michigan State | Big Ten |
| Leticia Romero |
5-8 |
Jr. |
G |
Florida State | ACC |
| Azurá Stevens |
6-6 |
Soph. |
F/G |
Duke | ACC |
| Breanna Stewart#* |
6-4 |
Sr. |
F |
Connecticut | The American |
| Lili Thompson |
5-7 |
Jr. |
G |
Stanford | Pac-12 |
| Morgan Tuck |
6-2 |
Jr. |
F |
Connecticut | The American |
| Brianna Turner |
6-3 |
Soph. |
F |
Notre Dame | ACC |
| Victoria Vivians |
6-1 |
Soph. |
F |
Mississippi State | SEC |
| Courtney Walker |
5-8 |
Sr. |
G |
Texas A&M | SEC |
| Shatori Walker-Kimbrough |
5-11 |
Jr. |
G |
Maryland | Big Ten |
| Courtney Williams |
5-8 |
Sr. |
G |
South Florida | The American |
| Courtney Williams |
6-1 |
Sr. |
F/G |
Texas A&M | SEC |
| A’ja Wilson |
6-5 |
Soph. |
F |
South Carolina | SEC |
# indicates player selected as a 2014-15 Wooden Award All American
* indicates player selected as 2014-15 Wooden Award Player of the Year
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