BATON ROUGE – Over the course of 24 hours, LSU women’s basketball player Ayana Mitchell started her senior season with a victory, scored her 1,000th career point and was named to the watch lists of two of the most prestigious awards in collegiate basketball – the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy’s® and the Citizen Naismith Trophy.
The Wooden Award list is comprised of 30 student-athletes considered to be the early front-runners for the 2020 honor. The list was compiled by a preseason poll of national women’s college basketball media.
The Naismith Trophy, administrated by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, lists 50 players in contention for the 2020 Women’s Player of the Year honor. The list will be culled down to 30 by early February, with the 10 national semifinalists named on March 3, 2020. The winner will be announced on April 4, 2020, the day before the Women’s Final Four championship game in New Orleans.
“These are two great honors for Ayana to receive in the last 24 hours,” said LSU head coach Nikki Fargas. “Ayana has worked hard to put herself in a position to be recognized among the elite players in the nation this season. We are excited for what this year has in store for this amazing, young woman.”
Mitchell is the top returner on the squad after averaging a double-double last season with 13.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. The Conyers, Georgia native is currently one of the Top 20 players in the nation on the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award Watch List and has been named to the SEC media and coaches’ preseason all-conference first teams.
In Tuesday night’s season opener against New Orleans, Mitchell became the 33rd Tiger women’s basketball player to reach the 1,000-point career milestone. She also picked up the 28th double-double of her career with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the winning effort.
When asked what the recognition means to her, Mitchell stated “What’s for me is for me. I’m where I am because God said this is where I’m supposed to be. Nothing else matters.”
Mitchell’s accolades and production on the court has put her in the same conversation with LSU legends Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. Augustus was a two-time winner of the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy in 2005 and 2006. Mitchell’s production in competition is moving her into a rare club. If she reaches the 1,000 career rebounds mark (737 after the UNO game), she will become one of four LSU players to reach the 1,000 points-1,000 rebounds career milestone, joining Fowles, Julie Gross and Maree Jackson.
For the complete lists of honorees, go to woodenaward.com and naismithtrophy.com.