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Pili and Kneepkens named to the Wooden Award Preseason Watchlist
11/14/2023 12:11 PM | Women's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY — No. 4 Utah women's basketball's Alissa Pili and Gianna Kneepkens were named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Watchlist.
The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Principal® announced the Women's Preseason Top 50 Watch List on ESPN's SportsCenter and on ESPN.com. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 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 list represents eight conferences: the Pac-12 leads all conferences with 11 selections, followed by the ACC with ten selections, the Big Ten and SEC with nine each, the Big 12 with six, the Big East with three and the Ivy League and MAC with one selection apiece.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2024 John R. Wooden Award Women's Player of the Year presented by Principal.
Pili was a Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference selection for this upcoming season. Pili was recently ranked at No. 9 on ESPN's WBB Top 25 players list. She earned an honorable mention on the AP Preseason All-American list and was also named to the Katrina McClain Preseason Watchlist and the Wade Trophy Preseason Watchlist.
She's averaging 22 points so far this season and 6.5 rebounds per game. She is shooting .833 from the field, .750 from the three and .786 from the free throw line.
Pili was a WBCA All-American last season and was named an AP and USBWA Second Team All-American. She was the 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year and earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors.
She ended the 2022-23 season 16th in the nation in scoring averaging 20.7 points per game. She was also 14th in the nation in field goal percentage shooting 59 percent on the year. Pili averaged 5.6 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game. She also shot 42 percent from the three and 79 percent from the free throw line.
Pili was a Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Finalist in 2023.
Kneepkens was recently named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Preseason Watchlist as well as the Naismith Trophy Watchlist. She was named to this year's Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team.
She currently averages 17 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 7 apg and 2 spg. Kneepkens is shooting 58 percent from the field, 61 percent from the three and 82 percent from the line.
Last season she was named a WBCA All-American honorable mention and earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors.
UP NEXT
Utah will take on Baylor Nov. 14 before heading to the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska. Pac-12 action is set to start Dec. 30 at Colorado.
SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are still available. General admission tickets are $50. 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).
The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Principal® announced the Women's Preseason Top 50 Watch List on ESPN's SportsCenter and on ESPN.com. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 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 list represents eight conferences: the Pac-12 leads all conferences with 11 selections, followed by the ACC with ten selections, the Big Ten and SEC with nine each, the Big 12 with six, the Big East with three and the Ivy League and MAC with one selection apiece.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2024 John R. Wooden Award Women's Player of the Year presented by Principal.
Pili was a Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference selection for this upcoming season. Pili was recently ranked at No. 9 on ESPN's WBB Top 25 players list. She earned an honorable mention on the AP Preseason All-American list and was also named to the Katrina McClain Preseason Watchlist and the Wade Trophy Preseason Watchlist.
She's averaging 22 points so far this season and 6.5 rebounds per game. She is shooting .833 from the field, .750 from the three and .786 from the free throw line.
Pili was a WBCA All-American last season and was named an AP and USBWA Second Team All-American. She was the 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year and earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors.
She ended the 2022-23 season 16th in the nation in scoring averaging 20.7 points per game. She was also 14th in the nation in field goal percentage shooting 59 percent on the year. Pili averaged 5.6 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game. She also shot 42 percent from the three and 79 percent from the free throw line.
Pili was a Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Finalist in 2023.
Kneepkens was recently named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Preseason Watchlist as well as the Naismith Trophy Watchlist. She was named to this year's Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team.
She currently averages 17 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 7 apg and 2 spg. Kneepkens is shooting 58 percent from the field, 61 percent from the three and 82 percent from the line.
Last season she was named a WBCA All-American honorable mention and earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors.
UP NEXT
Utah will take on Baylor Nov. 14 before heading to the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska. Pac-12 action is set to start Dec. 30 at Colorado.
SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are still available. General admission tickets are $50. 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).
Players Mentioned
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