KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee junior forward Rennia Davis has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List.
The 6-foot-2 native of Jacksonville, Fla., has advanced from the preseason list, to the midseason list, to the late season list after a stellar first 22 games of the 2019-20 campaign. This marks her first appearance as a late season candidate for the Wooden Award, which is given to the most outstanding player in women’s college basketball.
Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the first half of the 2019-20 season, the list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who are currently the front-runners for the sport’s most prestigious honor and the John R. Wooden Award All American Team®.
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™ 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 is averaging a career-best 18.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest to lead the Lady Vols, ranking second and sixth, respectively, among SEC players. In conference action, she has averaged 20.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, ranking second among all league players in scoring and seventh in rebounding.
The UT standout is shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 80.7 percent from the free throw line in all games to rank ninth and second, respectively, in the conference. In SEC play, she is hitting field goals at a 53-percent clip to rank fifth among her peers and is second at the charity stripe with an 82.9 percentage.
Davis leads the team in three-pointers with 27 buckets from long range and is second in steals (48) and third in assists (48).
Davis, who has led a young Tennessee squad to a 17-5 record and No. 23 national ranking thus far, has scored in double figures in 20 straight games and in 21 of 22 contests this season. Including last year, she has hit 10 or more points in 34 of her past 35 starts. She has registered five 20-point games so far in 2019-20, moving into a tie for ninth on UT’s career list with 12 games of scoring 20 or more.
She also has tallied eight double-double efforts thus far and would move into the top 10 all-time for Lady Vol juniors with just one more. She currently ranks 11th in career double-doubles with 26 during her third year on Rocky Top and is third among active SEC players in that category.
Earlier this season, Davis reached the 1,000-point scoring plateau, becoming the 46th Lady Vol to reach that milestone. She has since climbed to No. 32 on the list with 1,257 points through the South Carolina game.
Davis and her teammates will face No. 8 Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday in a contest televised by the SEC Network and carried by the Lady Vol Radio Network.
Here’s a complete look at the Wooden Late Season Top 25:
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (6-5, Fr., F)
Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M (5-7, Jr., G)
Kaila Charles, Maryland (6-1, Sr., G.)
Lauren Cox, Baylor (6-4, Sr., F)
Elissa Cunane, NC State (6-5, So., C)
Crystal Dangerfield, UConn (5-5, Sr., G)
Rennia Davis, Tennessee (6-2, Jr., G/F)
Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas (5-11, Jr., G)
Dana Evans, Louisville (5-6, Jr., G)
Kiah Gillespie, Florida State (6-2, Jr., F)
Tyasha Harris, South Carolina (5-10, Sr., G)
Ruthy Hebard, Oregon (6-4, Sr., F)
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky (6-2, So., G)
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (5-11, Sr., G)
Aari McDonald, Arizona (5-6, Jr., G)
Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA (6-0, Jr., F)
Ali Patberg, Indiana (5-11, Jr., G)
Mikayla Pivec, Oregon State (5-10, Sr. G)
Satou Sabally, Oregon (6-4, Jr., F)
Megan Walker, UConn (6-1, Jr. F)
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