Nov. 9, 2004
ATLANTA, Ga. - Fifty of the country's top collegiate women's basketball players, including Baylor's Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young, were named as preseason candidates for the Naismith Trophy presented by Cingular Wireless, The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's players of the year.
A national awards committee consisting of leading basketball coaches, journalists, and basketball administrators announced the list of 50 student-athletes from Division I schools. The board based its preseason criteria on player performances from last season.
In January, the board of selectors will narrow its preseason list to the Top 30 players in the nation. Those players, and others who distinguish themselves throughout the season, will be eligible for the final ballot in March.
Young and Blackmon and the third and fourth Baylor players to appear on the Naismith Trophy preseason list, Sheila Lambert and Danielle Crockrom were on the list in 2001-02.
Young, a 6-1 junior forward, and Blackmon, a 6-2 senior post, led Baylor in both scoring and rebounding for head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson's squad last year which went 26-9 and earned the program's first trip to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Lady Bears finished the season ranked No.15 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the final USA Today/ESPN Poll.
Young, who hails from St. Vincent, West Indies, was a first-team All-Big 12 selection last season as a sophomore and was named to the all-tournament team at the Big 12 Tournament in Dallas. Young led the team and was among the Big 12's leaders in both scoring and rebounding with 16.7 points and 8.6 rebounds a game. The talented player needed only 53 games to reach 500 rebounds and only 67 games to go over 1,000 points. She now has 1,083 points and 653 rebounds in her two-year career. In addition, she has recorded 27 double-doubles.
Blackmon, a Dallas native, also was named first-team All-Big 12 last season after averaging 15.6 points and 6.9 rebound a game. She currently ranks No. 2 on Baylor's career blocks chart with 130 over her three years. Blackmon has 1,402 points and 651 rebounds to her credit.
The preseason candidates for the Naismith Trophy, listed in alphabetical order are as follows: Seimone Augustus, LSU; Sherill Baker, Georgia; Jacqueline Batteast, Notre Dame; Steffanie Blackmon, Baylor; Nikki Blue, UCLA; Natasha Brackett, Auburn; Jamie Carey, Texas; Monique Currie, Duke; Jessalyn Deveny, Boston College; Shay Doron, Maryland; Shyra Ely, Tennessee; Emily Faurholt, Idaho; Katie Feenstra, Liberty; Katie Geralds, Purdue; Erin Grant, Texas Tech; Sandora Irvin, TCU; Dionnah Jackson, Oklahoma; Tiffanie Jackson, Texas; Tamara James, Miami; Temeka Johnson, LSU; Alexis Kendrick, Georgia; Laurie Koehn, Kansas State; Catherine Kraayeveld, Oregon; Ivory Latta and Camilly Little, North Carolina; Sancho Lyttle, Houston; Kristen Mann, UC Santa Barbara; Janel McCarville, Minnesota; Jessica Moore, Connecticut; Loree Moore, Tennessee; Bernice Mosby, Florida; Chelsea Newton, Rutgers; Shawntinice Polk, Arizona; Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers; Noelle Quinn, UCLA; Kathrin Ress, Boston College; Alesha Robertson, Texas Tech; Heather Schreiber, Texas; Shara Smith DePaul; Kim Smith, Utah; Ann Strother, Connecticut; Kelley Suminski, Stanford; Carla Thomas, Vanderbilt; Barbara Turner, Connecticut; Kendra Wecker, Kansas State; Dee-Dee Wheeler, Arizona; Tan White, Mississippi State; Tanisha Wright, Penn State; Sophia Young, Baylor; Shanna Zolman, Tennessee. Last year's Naismith Trophy recipient was Connecticut's Diana Taurasi. For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com
