BATON ROUGE — Lady Tiger forward DeTrina White, the lone senior on the LSU women’s basketball team, was named on the list of 30 preseason candidates for the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
“Anytime we have a player that is given national attention and recognition like this, it speaks very highly of our program,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “The Naismith Award is a prestigious honor and we are delighted that she is one of the preseason candidates on that list.”
The 1999 National Freshman of the Year, White was an All-SEC selection in both 1999 and 2000. Despite being sidelined for the beginning of the 2001 season with an injury, she went on to average 9.5 points a game and lead the team with a 7.4 rebounding average. When she took the court
for the first time for the Lady Tigers last season, she sparked a six-game winning streak. In 20 games, she shot under 50-percent from the field only once to lead the team in field goal percentage.
White is one of eight players from the Southeastern Conference named on the Naismith list. Tennessee had three players, as Gwen Jackson, Kara Lawson and Michelle Snow were all named. Brandi McCain of Florida, Tawana McDonald of Georgia, LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State and Chantelle Anderson of Vanderbilt were also listed.
The Naismith Awards program, now in its 34th year, honors the outstanding college basketball players in the United States. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball.
The candidates were selected by a vote of the Board of Selectors comprised of leading basketball coaches, journalists and basketball analysts. Members of the board were asked to name top male and female players who are most likely to be in contention for the award. The award will be presented at the conclusion of the season.