Jackson Selected As Wade Trophy Candidate

NORMAN, Okla. Oklahoma senior standout Dionnah Jackson was named to her second preseason award list Wednesday. The 5-9 point guard is one of 31 women's basketball players selected as candidates for the 2004-05 State Farm Wade Trophy National Player of the Year Award.

Last week, Jackson was announced as a Wooden Preseason All-American candidate. She is also one of six players from the Big 12 Conference on the Wade Trophy list.

A national awards committee consisting of leading basketball coaches, journalists, and basketball administrators announced the list of 31 student-athletes from Division I schools. They were selected on the following criteria: game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability.

Jackson, a native of St. Louis, Mo., is the Sooners top returning scorer and rebounder as she averaged 12.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg as a junior. She has also led Oklahoma in assists (5.0) and steals (2.3) per game for the past two seasons. The two-time All-Big 12 second teamer currently ranks among OU's all-time top 10 in both categories; No. 3 in assists (433) and No. 10 in steals (200).

She was named the 2004 Big 12 Tournament MVP after guiding the Sooners to four wins in five days for OU's second tournament title in three years. Over that four game span, Jackson produced a team-high 17.0 points per game, followed by 8.3 rebounds. She also shot 79.2 percent from the free throw line and 47.1 percent from the field.

Presented annually to the best women's basketball player in NCAA Division I, The Wade Trophy, named after the late, legendary three-time national champion, Delta State University coach Lily Margaret Wade, debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women's national player of the year award in college basketball. This award, regarded as “The Heisman of Women's Basketball”, is organized by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), in conjunction with the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS).

The 2005 State Farm Wade Trophy winner will be announced during the WBCA National Convention held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 2-5, 2005.

Last year's State Farm Wade Trophy recipient was Alana Beard (Duke University). Former UT women's players have earned three prior Wade Trophy honors, and those three honors ties Texas for second-highest number of Wade Trophy award winners in history. The award began in 1978. Prior Longhorn Wade Trophy recipients were point guard Kamie Ethridge (1986), forward Clarissa Davis (1989) and guard Edwina Brown (2000).

”The 2004-05 State Farm Wade Trophy preseason list is an example of how dynamic and exciting the game of women's college basketball has become,” said Jeanne Lenti-Ponsetto, Chair of the State Farm Wade Trophy Committee and Athletic Director, DePaul University. “These 31 student-athletes represent the best and brightest and we look forward to an outstanding year of college women's basketball.”

Of the 31 student-athletes selected for the preseason “Wade Watch,” the Big 12 led with seven (7); the BIG EAST followed with five (5) players; the SEC and PAC-10 each have four (4) players; the ACC and Conference USA with three (3) players; the Big Ten with two (2) players, while the Big South, Big West and Mountain West have one player represented respectively.

The pre-season candidates for The State Farm Wade Trophy, listed in alphabetical order, are as follows:

Name, Class, Institution
Seimone Augustus, Junior, LSU
Jacqueline Batteast, Senior, Notre Dame
Steffanie Blackmon, Senior, Baylor
Nikki Blue, Junior, UCLA
Jamie Carey, Sr., Texas
Monique Currie, Junior, Duke
Shyra Ely, Senior, Tennessee
Katie Feenstra, Senior, Liberty
Sandora Irvin, Senior, TCU
Dionnah Jackson, Senior, Oklahoma
Tiffany Jackson, Sophomore, Texas
Temeka Johnson, Senior, LSU
Ivory Latta, Sophomore, North Carolina
Camille Little, Sophomore, North Carolina
Sancho Lyttle, Senior, Houston
Kristen Mann, Senior, UC Santa Barbara
Janel McCarville, Senior, Minnesota
Jessica Moore, Senior, Connecticut
Shawntinice Polk, Junior, Arizona
Cappie Pondexter, Senior, Rutgers
Noelle Quinn, Sophomore, UCLA
Heather Schreiber, Senior, Texas
Khara Smith, Junior, DePaul
Kim Smith, Junior, Utah
Ann Strother, Junior, Connecticut
Barbara Turner, Junior, Connecticut
Kendra Wecker, Senior, Kansas State
Dee-Dee Wheeler, Senior, Arizona
Tan White, Senior, Mississippi State
Tanisha Wright, Senior, Penn State
Sophia Young, Junior, Baylor

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Jackson Selected As Wade Trophy Candidate

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