LOS ANGELES – University of Tennessee junior forward Rennia Davis has been named to the John R. Wooden Award, presented by Wendy’s, Women’s Basketball Preseason Top 30.
The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The list is chosen by a preseason poll of national women’s college basketball media members.
The preseason list represents nine conferences: the Pac-12 leads all conferences with nine selections, followed by the SEC with six, the ACC and Big 12 with four apiece, the American and Big Ten with two each, and Conference USA, Ivy League, and Missouri Valley with one selection apiece.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot.
The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games.
The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10, 2020
Davis also is on the 20-player Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List and was named Preseason All-SEC First Team by the coaches and earned second-team honors from the media.
A 6-foot-2 product of Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Florida, Davis led UT in scoring (14.9), rebounding (7.7) and free throw percentage (.856) in her second season on Rocky Top. She ranked No. 1 in the SEC in free throw percentage, No. 8 in rebounding and No. 12 in scoring a year ago.
Davis’ scoring average tied for No. 5 all-time by a UT sophomore, while her rebound average was the ninth-best for a second-year performer at Tennessee. Her sophomore-year double-double total (9) was the sixth-most by an active player in the SEC last season and the second-most by an underclassman.
Davis and her teammates open their 2019-20 season tonight in Johnson City, Tenn., as they take on East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. at Freedom Hall. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) and televised in the Knoxville area by MyVLT and in the Tri-Cities on WEMT FOX 39.
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