A’ja Wilson named finalist for Citizen Naismith Player of the Year
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior forward A’ja Wilson is one of four finalists for the Citizen Naismith Women’s Player of the Year award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. A finalist for the award each of the last three seasons, Wilson won the 2014 Naismith High School Trophy.
Fans will have a chance to vote for the winner beginning March 19 and running through 6 p.m. ET on March. 30. To vote for their favorite player of the finalists, fans should visitnaismithtrophy.com/vote to cast their ballot. The fan component makes up five percent of the overall vote.
The 2018 Citizen Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year winner will be announced on Sat., March 31. The other finalists for the award are Asia Durr (Louisville), Kate Lou Samuelson (UConn) and Gabby Williams (UConn).
Wilson has made her senior year one for the record books as she became South Carolina’s all-time leading scorer and just the 13th player in SEC history to record 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She leads the SEC and ranks eighth in the nation in scoring at 22.6 points per game. She has scored in double figures in 28 of her 29 games this season, including 14 games of at least 25 points. She averages 21.3 points against nationally ranked opponents and has 21 double-doubles on the season.
Her production is not just in scoring, however, as Wilson is 11th in the nation in rebounding average (11.8) and seven in defensive rebounds per game (8.0). Her 3.24 blocks per game are fifth-best in the nation. No other player ranks among the NCAA’s top 30 in scoring, rebounding and block averages this season.
The No. 2 seed in the Albany Region, South Carolina opens NCAA Tournament play tonight at 7:30 p.m. The No. 7/7 Gamecocks take on North Carolina A&T in the second of two first-round games at Colonial Life Arena. The winner of the 5 p.m. contest between California and Virginia will take on the winner between the Gamecocks and Aggies on Sunday at a time to be announced by Saturday morning.
USC Athletics contributed to the writing of this article.
