The Lisa Leslie Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
in the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
(NCAA)
Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer
Lisa Leslie, an eight-time All Star and two-time champion of the WNBA in her 12 years career with the LA Sparks. In 2002, Leslie became the first player to dunk in a WNBA game, en route to a second championship for the Sparks. Leslie retired as the WNBA all-time leading scorer & rebounder and is a four-time Olympic gold medalist.
The Lisa Leslie Award was first presented in 2018, when WBCA and the Naismith Hall, in collaboration with ESPN, incorporated the previously existing
Nancy Lieberman Award
The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman, was given annually by the Rotary Club of Detroit in the Award's first 14 years to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bi ...
, presented to the top NCAA women's point guard, into a new set of awards known as the "Naismith Starting Five", that are presented at the WBCA convention (except in 2020, when the convention was not held due to the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...
) to players at each of the five traditional basketball positions. These awards parallel a previously existing set of men's basketball positional awards also presented by the Hall. In addition to the Lieberman Award, first presented in 2000, the other three new awards are:
*
Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award
*
Katrina McClain Power Forward Award
*
Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award
Winner for each of the Starting Five awards is determined by a selection committee consisting of Hall of Famers, WBCA coaching members, and media, and headed by the award's namesake. Fan voting through the Hall's website is also incorporated into the selection process.
Key
Winners
Winners by school
See also
*
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate center. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded sinc ...
– the counterpart to the Leslie Award; given to the best men's NCAA center
References
External links
Official website
{{Lisa Leslie Award
College basketball player of the year awards in the United States
College basketball trophies and awards in the United States
College women's basketball in the United States
Sports awards honoring women
Awards established in 2018
College sports trophies and awards in the United States