Louisville WBB Dana Evans Named to Wooden Award Top 30 Watch List

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The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy’s® announced today on ESPNW that University of Louisville senior guard Dana Evans has been named to the Women’s Preseason Top 30 Watch List.

Evans is one of four Atlantic Coast Conference players named to the list, joined by NC State’s Elissa Cunane and Syracuse’s Kiara Lewis and Tiana Mangakahia.

Earlier this season, Evans was named ACC Preseason Player of the Year, Associated Press Preseason All-American, and to the Naismith and Drysdale Award Watch List.

Through two games, she is averaging a team-high 17.5 points and 6.5 assists per game.

Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team™ and Most Outstanding Player Award.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games.

The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing The Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All American Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legend of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Kevin Durant (’07), Candace Parker (’07; ’08), Maya Moore (’09; ’11), Chiney Ogwumike (’14), Breanna Stewart (’15 and ’16) and last year’s recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Obi Toppin of Dayton.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.

For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.

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John R. Wooden Award

Presented by Wendy’s

Preseason Top 30 NameSchoolConferenceHeightClassPosition
Aliyah BostonSouth CarolinaSEC6-5So.F
Paige BueckersConnecticutBig East5-11Fr.G
Charli CollierTexasBig 126-5Jr.F/C
Zia CookeSouth CarolinaSEC5-9So.G
Elissa CunaneNC StateACC6-5Jr.C
Rennia DavisTennesseeSEC6-2Sr.G/F
Chelsea DungeeArkansasSEC5-11Sr.G
Dana EvansLouisvilleACC5-6Sr.G
Vivian GrayTexas TechBig 126-1Sr.G
Arella GuirantesRutgersBig Ten5-11Sr.G
Naz HillmonMichiganBig Ten6-2Jr.F
Rhyne Howard*KentuckySEC6-2Jr.G
Lexie HullStanfordPAC-126-0Jr.G
Rickea JacksonMississippi StSEC6-2So.F
Ashley JoensIowa StateBig 126-0Jr.G/F
N’dea JonesTexas A&MSEC6-2Sr.F
Ayoka LeeKansas StateBig 126-6So.C
Kiara LewisSyracuseACC5-8Sr.G
Tiana MangakahiaSyracuseACC5-6Sr.G
Aari McDonaldArizonaPAC-125-6Sr.G
Olivia Nelson-OdodaConnecticutBig East6-5Jr.F
Michaela OnyenwereUCLAPAC-126-0Sr.F
Ali PatbergIndianaBig Ten5-11Sr.G
Lindsey PulliamNorthwesternBig Ten5-10Sr.G
Destiny SlocumArkansasSEC5-7Sr.G
NaLyssa SmithBaylorBig 126-2Jr.F
Unique ThompsonAuburnSEC6-3Sr.F
Evina WestbrookConnecticutBig East6-0Jr.G
Christyn WilliamsConnecticutBig East5-11Jr.G
Kiana WilliamsStanfordPAC-125-8Sr.G

For the latest on Louisville women’s basketball, visit GoCards.com, follow the team’s Twitter account at @UofLWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLWBB.

Nick Evans
Asst. Sports Information DirectorWomen’s Basketball, Women’s Lacrosse, Women’s Soccer
University of Louisville Athletics