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Gianna Kneepkens Named to 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Watch List
11/4/2022 11:40 AM | Women's Basketball
The sophomore is 1-of-50 players named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Watch List
ATLANTA – The Atlanta Tipoff Club opened the college basketball season by releasing the 50 players on the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's Watch List, and Utah's sophomore guard Gianna Kneepkens was named to the list.
"This is a big-time list to be on for Gianna, especially as a sophomore," remarked head coach Lynne Roberts. "We are all very excited to see what she achieves, but those that know her well know that this will just motivate her to work harder and keep focusing on our team's goals."
The midseason 30 team will be announced in early February, and then the competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists in early March. Following those results, four finalists will be named on March 21, 2023, and the winner of the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy for Women's Player of the Year will be announced on March 29, 2023. The complete watch list can be found by clicking here.
"We have selected an elite group of athletes for the 2023 Jersey Mike's Women's Naismith Trophy watch list this year, and we look forward to keeping an eye on these stellar players and adding additional excellent players as the season progresses," said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Kneepkens, a sophomore from Duluth, Minn., was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, becoming the second player in program history to earn this Pac-12 honor and the first since 2019. Besides making Freshman of the Year honors, she also earned First Team Pac-12 and All-Freshman Team honors. She earned Pac-12 All-Tournament team honors following the Pac-12 tournament, the first Ute in program history to earn this honor.
She came off the bench during her freshman season and scored a career-high 29 points against rival BYU. She shot 52 percent from the floor in the game. She appeared in 33 games while making 25 starts and averaged 23.7 minutes, 11.8 points, and 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.
She earned five Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors and scored in double figures 20 times as a freshman. During her freshman season, she led the team in scoring 11 times while making a three-pointer in 29-of-33 games, including hitting at least one three-pointer in 22 straight games. She shot 38.4 percent (56-for-146) on threes last season, the ninth-best mark in the Pac-12. She finished ninth in program history, hitting 87.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Up Next
Utah opens the regular season on Monday, Nov. 7, when they host Idaho at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. The game against the Vandals will be aired on ESPN700 with Tyson Ewing and Milee Enger calling the shots, or you can find it on the Utah live stream. Live Stats can be found at UtahUtes.com.
Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2022-23 season are now available. Floor seats are priced at $100, while general admission tickets at $25. With you, we can reach our goal of 2,022 season tickets! The Utes also have a season ticket package with the Crimson Craze. For $50, you can get the premium Crimson Craze Packet, which comes with a Crimson Craze T-Shirt, exclusive program newsletter, and pre-game chalk talks for Pac-12 games, plus one GA season ticket. Call the Utah ticket office at 801-581-UTIX or visit www.UtahTickets.com.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
"This is a big-time list to be on for Gianna, especially as a sophomore," remarked head coach Lynne Roberts. "We are all very excited to see what she achieves, but those that know her well know that this will just motivate her to work harder and keep focusing on our team's goals."
The midseason 30 team will be announced in early February, and then the competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists in early March. Following those results, four finalists will be named on March 21, 2023, and the winner of the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy for Women's Player of the Year will be announced on March 29, 2023. The complete watch list can be found by clicking here.
"We have selected an elite group of athletes for the 2023 Jersey Mike's Women's Naismith Trophy watch list this year, and we look forward to keeping an eye on these stellar players and adding additional excellent players as the season progresses," said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Kneepkens, a sophomore from Duluth, Minn., was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, becoming the second player in program history to earn this Pac-12 honor and the first since 2019. Besides making Freshman of the Year honors, she also earned First Team Pac-12 and All-Freshman Team honors. She earned Pac-12 All-Tournament team honors following the Pac-12 tournament, the first Ute in program history to earn this honor.
She came off the bench during her freshman season and scored a career-high 29 points against rival BYU. She shot 52 percent from the floor in the game. She appeared in 33 games while making 25 starts and averaged 23.7 minutes, 11.8 points, and 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.
She earned five Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors and scored in double figures 20 times as a freshman. During her freshman season, she led the team in scoring 11 times while making a three-pointer in 29-of-33 games, including hitting at least one three-pointer in 22 straight games. She shot 38.4 percent (56-for-146) on threes last season, the ninth-best mark in the Pac-12. She finished ninth in program history, hitting 87.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Up Next
Utah opens the regular season on Monday, Nov. 7, when they host Idaho at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. The game against the Vandals will be aired on ESPN700 with Tyson Ewing and Milee Enger calling the shots, or you can find it on the Utah live stream. Live Stats can be found at UtahUtes.com.
Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2022-23 season are now available. Floor seats are priced at $100, while general admission tickets at $25. With you, we can reach our goal of 2,022 season tickets! The Utes also have a season ticket package with the Crimson Craze. For $50, you can get the premium Crimson Craze Packet, which comes with a Crimson Craze T-Shirt, exclusive program newsletter, and pre-game chalk talks for Pac-12 games, plus one GA season ticket. Call the Utah ticket office at 801-581-UTIX or visit www.UtahTickets.com.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
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