🏀 Taiyanna Jackson Named to Wooden Award Watch List

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas super-senior center Taiyanna Jackson has been named to the Preseason Top 50 Watch List for the 2023-24 John R. Wooden Award, a prestigious honor presented to the most outstanding player in college basketball.

This is the third preseason watch list for Jackson, who has also been named to the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List and one of 20 candidates for the Lisa Leslie Award, which recognizes the top center in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. She was also a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

Jackson becomes the first Jayhawk chosen to the Wooden Award Preseason Watch List since Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich in the 2012-13 season. The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2024 Wooden Award. 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.

Now in her third and final season at Kansas, Jackson had a record-setting campaign in 2022-23. She was a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team selection after becoming the first Kansas player since 1981-82 to average a double-double, totaling 15.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. Jackson became the first Jayhawk since 2014 to be receive All-America Honorable Mention recognition from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and was named the MVP of the WNIT after leading the Jayhawks to the tournament championship.

Jackson opened her super-senior season with the 28th double-double of her career, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds in KU’s 88-46 win over Northwestern State. Through two games, Jackson is 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game, while shooting 65.2% (15-of-23) from the field.

Kansas is 1-1 on the year and playing its next three games away from home, beginning this Saturday, Nov. 18, against UMKC at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas will then play nationally ranked opponents Virginia Tech and UConn at the Cayman Islands Classic on Nov. 24-25 before returning home on Nov. 30 to host Southeastern Louisiana.