Jocelyn Willoughby Named to the USBWA National Player of the Year Watch List
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –Virginia women’s basketball senior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) has been named to the watch list for the USBWA’s Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year Award, as announced today (Dec. 5) by the National Basketball Writers Association’s board of directors.
Willoughby is one of 35 players named to the watch list. Four returning All-Americans highlight the list and six schools have multiple players on the watch list. The Pac-12 Conference leads the field with eight members followed by the American Athletic and Southeastern Conferences with five each and the ACC and Big Ten with four apiece. A total of 26 schools and 11 conferences are represented and there are 21 seniors or graduate students on the list and five underclassmen.
The 2019-20 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner will be presented at the 2020 NCAA Women’s Final Four in New Orleans, along with the Tamika Catchings Award honoring the women’s freshman player of the year. The winner will also be honored at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Mon., April 13, 2020.
Willoughby, a preseason All-ACC selection, currently ranks second in the ACC in scoring (18.5 points per gsame) and seventh in rebounding (9.3 rebounds per game). Willoughby was named to the 2019 Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District III team, the first UVA women’s basketball player to earn the honor since Jenny Boucek in 1996. She became the 35th player in program history to score 1,000 points in her career and was voted to the All-ACC Academic Team for the third-straight year.
The USBWA formally expanded its All-America team to 15 players in 2019 and many of the players on this watch list will contend for All-America honors. In addition, the USBWA continues to name an Ann Meyers Drysdale Women’s National Player of the Week each Tuesday.
While all Division I players are eligible for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, the USBWA board has chosen the players on the watch list to promote the award and give the membership, which votes on all USBWA awards, an early look at some of the best players in the country. In January, the USBWA will release a second watch list, followed by finalists after All-America balloting is complete in March.
Willoughby is also on the 2019-20 watch list for another award named after the legendary Ann Meyers Drysdale, the honor presented by the The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association to the top shooting guard in the country.
2019-20 ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE AWARD WATCH LIST
Pos. Player, School Ht. Yr. Hometown
G/F Bella Alarie, Princeton (6-4, Sr., Bethesda, Md.)
F Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (6-5, Fr., St. Thomas, USVI)
G Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M (5-7, Jr., Mansfield, Texas)
G Kaila Charles, Maryland (6-1, Sr., Glenn Dale, Md.)
F Lauren Cox, Baylor (6-4, Sr., Flower Mound, Texas)
G Crystal Dangerfield, UConn (5-5, Sr., Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
F Mariella Fasoula, Vanderbilt (6-5, R-Sr., Athens, Greece)
G Haley Gorecki, Duke (6-0, Gr., Palatine, Ill.)
G Tyasha Harris, South Carolina (5-10, Sr., Noblesville, Ind.)
F Ruthie Hebard, Oregon (6-4, Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska)
F Joyner Holmes, Texas (6-3, Sr., Cedar Hill, Texas)
G Rhyne Howard, Kentucky (6-2, So., Cleveland, Tenn.)
G Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (5-11, Sr., Walnut Creek, Calif.)
G Stella Johnson, Rider (5-10, Sr., Denville, N.J.)
G Tynice Martin, West Virginia (5-11, R-Sr., Atlanta, Ga.)
G Taylor Mikesell, Maryland (5-11, So., Massillon, Ohio)
G Aari McDonald, Arizona (5-6, Jr., Fresno, Calif.)
F Beatrice Mompremier, Miami (6-4, R-Sr, Miami, Fla.)
F Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn (6-5, So., Winder, Ga.)
F Leona Odum, Duke (6-2, Sr., Lompoc, Calif.)
G Erica Ogwumike, Rice (5-9, Sr., Cypress, Texas)
F Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA (6-0, Jr., Aurora, Colo.)
G Ali Patberg, Indiana (5-11, R-Jr., Columbus, Ind.)
G/F Destiny Pitts, Minnesota (5-10, Jr., Detroit, Mich.)
G Mikayla Pivec, Oregon State (5-10, Sr., Lynnwood, Wash.)
F Satou Sabally, Oregon (6-4, Jr., Berlin, Germany)
F Shadeen Samuels, Seton Hall (6-0, Sr., Ossining, N.Y.)
G Destiny Slocum, Oregon State (5-7, R-Jr., Meridian, Idaho)
G Kamiah Smalls, James Madison (5-10, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.)
F Chante Stonewall, DePaul (6-1, Sr., Normal, Ill.)
F Megan Walker, UConn (6-1, Jr., Chesterfield, Va.)
G Chrystyn Williams, UConn (5-11, So., Little Rock, Ark.)
G Kiana Williams, Stanford (5-8, Jr., San Antonio, Texas)
G/F Jocelyn Willoughby, Virginia (6-0, Sr., East Orange, N.J.)
G Kay Kay Wright, UCF (5-7, Sr., Orlando, Fla.)
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected a women’s All-America team since the 1996-97 season.