DePaul University Athletics
Aneesah Morrow Placed on John Wooden Award National Ballot
3/5/2022 11:24:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
All-American candidate among 15 of nation's best for Player of the Year honor
LOS ANGELES – In the latest chapter of Aneesah Morrow's incredible journey, the DePaul freshman All-American candidate has made it to the nationwide stage of perhaps the country's most prestigious collegiate award.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Saturday on ESPNW the 2022 women's national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's, and the Blue Demon's relentless power forward is prominent among the final 15.
Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the national ballot consists of 15 student-athletes who are candidates for the Wooden Award All-American Team and Wooden Award Trophy as the most outstanding college basketball player in the United States.
While previously only being included on the Preseason Wooden Watch list, Khayla Pointer returns on the national ballot. Two schools have multiple players on the Wooden Award ballot--- No. 1/1 South Carolina (Aliyah Boston and Destanni Henderson) and No. 2/2 Stanford (Cameron Brink and Haley Jones).
The SEC leads all conferences with five selections followed by the Big Ten and Big 12 with three, the Pac-12 with two and the ACC and BIG EAST with one each.
Morrow was not a highly touted recruit coming out of Simeon and proceeded to stun coaches nationwide with her 31-point, nine-rebound NCAA debut against Texas Southern. Morrow said that being overlooked and watching Top 25 schools lose interest while she battled through a series of injuries has her playing with a considerable chip on her broad shoulder.
Imposing her will on a game with a ferocious intensity and off-the-charts athleticism has the 6-foot, 1-inch rookie leading the nation in double-doubles, field goals, rebounds, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game. She is also third in points and sixth in steals.
Morrow had an NCAA season-high 27 rebounds at Seton Hall and poured in a BIG EAST freshman record 41 points at Creighton while also hauling down 18 rebounds.
Her stunning performances coming out of nowhere left national analysts shaking their collective heads in wonder. ESPN took the first plunge after hailing her as the No. 1 freshman in the country, and Her Hoop Stats followed soon after with the same proclamation.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association selected her National Freshman of the Week a record five times. The previous mark of four was held by the country's top two sophomores---Connecticut's Paige Bueckers and Iowa's Caitlin Clark who leads the nation in scoring.
Morrow went on to break 11 BIG EAST records including most rebounds in a conference season and in a BIG EAST game. She became the first player ever to win BIG EAST Freshman of the Week 13 times and is the only player in league history to sweep both Player of the Week and the Freshman award three times.
Her 23 consecutive double-doubles leaves her in very exclusive company as only three other players in NCAA history have 20 or more in one season.
Most would agree that chip on her shoulder should have splintered by now into 1,000 pieces.
Not even close.
Instead, Morrow continues to feed off a burning desire to prove her doubters and detractors way wrong.
In addition to the Wooden Award, Morrow is a finalist for the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year award and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honor.
The qualifications for the Wooden Award include strength of character on and off the court, minimum 2.0 grade-point average (Morrow carries a 4.0), contribute to team success by excelling in both offense and defense and performance over the course of the entire season.
Voting will take place from March 15th to March 22nd, and voters take into consideration a player's entire season of play as well as the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. The finalists for the 2022 Wooden Award presented by Wendy's will be announced on March 30th.
John Wooden Award National Ballot
Shakira Austin, Mississippi
Aliyah Boston,* South Carolina
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Elissa Cunane, North Carolina State
Destanni Henderson, South Carolina
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Rhyne Howard,* Kentucky
Ashley Jones, Iowa State
Haley Joens, Stanford
Ayoka Lee, Kansas State
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul
Khayla Pointer, LSU
Angel Reese, Maryland
NaLyssa Smith,* Baylor
* indicates player selected as 2021 Wooden Award All American
The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Saturday on ESPNW the 2022 women's national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's, and the Blue Demon's relentless power forward is prominent among the final 15.
Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the national ballot consists of 15 student-athletes who are candidates for the Wooden Award All-American Team and Wooden Award Trophy as the most outstanding college basketball player in the United States.
While previously only being included on the Preseason Wooden Watch list, Khayla Pointer returns on the national ballot. Two schools have multiple players on the Wooden Award ballot--- No. 1/1 South Carolina (Aliyah Boston and Destanni Henderson) and No. 2/2 Stanford (Cameron Brink and Haley Jones).
The SEC leads all conferences with five selections followed by the Big Ten and Big 12 with three, the Pac-12 with two and the ACC and BIG EAST with one each.
Morrow was not a highly touted recruit coming out of Simeon and proceeded to stun coaches nationwide with her 31-point, nine-rebound NCAA debut against Texas Southern. Morrow said that being overlooked and watching Top 25 schools lose interest while she battled through a series of injuries has her playing with a considerable chip on her broad shoulder.
Imposing her will on a game with a ferocious intensity and off-the-charts athleticism has the 6-foot, 1-inch rookie leading the nation in double-doubles, field goals, rebounds, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game. She is also third in points and sixth in steals.
Morrow had an NCAA season-high 27 rebounds at Seton Hall and poured in a BIG EAST freshman record 41 points at Creighton while also hauling down 18 rebounds.
Her stunning performances coming out of nowhere left national analysts shaking their collective heads in wonder. ESPN took the first plunge after hailing her as the No. 1 freshman in the country, and Her Hoop Stats followed soon after with the same proclamation.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association selected her National Freshman of the Week a record five times. The previous mark of four was held by the country's top two sophomores---Connecticut's Paige Bueckers and Iowa's Caitlin Clark who leads the nation in scoring.
Morrow went on to break 11 BIG EAST records including most rebounds in a conference season and in a BIG EAST game. She became the first player ever to win BIG EAST Freshman of the Week 13 times and is the only player in league history to sweep both Player of the Week and the Freshman award three times.
Her 23 consecutive double-doubles leaves her in very exclusive company as only three other players in NCAA history have 20 or more in one season.
Most would agree that chip on her shoulder should have splintered by now into 1,000 pieces.
Not even close.
Instead, Morrow continues to feed off a burning desire to prove her doubters and detractors way wrong.
In addition to the Wooden Award, Morrow is a finalist for the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year award and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honor.
The qualifications for the Wooden Award include strength of character on and off the court, minimum 2.0 grade-point average (Morrow carries a 4.0), contribute to team success by excelling in both offense and defense and performance over the course of the entire season.
Voting will take place from March 15th to March 22nd, and voters take into consideration a player's entire season of play as well as the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. The finalists for the 2022 Wooden Award presented by Wendy's will be announced on March 30th.
John Wooden Award National Ballot
Shakira Austin, Mississippi
Aliyah Boston,* South Carolina
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Elissa Cunane, North Carolina State
Destanni Henderson, South Carolina
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Rhyne Howard,* Kentucky
Ashley Jones, Iowa State
Haley Joens, Stanford
Ayoka Lee, Kansas State
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul
Khayla Pointer, LSU
Angel Reese, Maryland
NaLyssa Smith,* Baylor
* indicates player selected as 2021 Wooden Award All American
Players Mentioned
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