KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy’s® Late Season Top 20 on Monday, and Tennessee’s Rennia Davis has advanced to that watch list.
Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2020-21 season thus far, the list consists of 20 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport’s most prestigious honor.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason or midseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ National Ballot.
Davis, a 6-foot-2 senior guard/forward from Jacksonville, Fla., is averaging 14.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 78.9 percent from the free-throw line. In SEC play, Davis is putting up 17.1 ppg. and 9.7 rpg. while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 81.0 from the charity stripe. Versus four ranked foes, Davis is even better, averaging a double-double of 17.8 ppg. and 13.8 rpg. while hitting 50.8 percent and 83.3 percent, respectively.
Davis is well on her way to becoming one of only five players who rank in the top 10 in both career scoring and rebounding average at UT, standing 10th (14.8) and sixth (8.0), respectively. The others are Patricia Roberts, Chamique Holdsclaw, Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings. Davis also is on her way to becoming only the 13th UT woman to average double figures in scoring all four years of her career.
Through 15 games this season, Davis leads the team with six double-doubles and has 35 for her career to tie for fifth all-time at Tennessee. She has scored 20+ points on three occasions as a senior, tallying 16 such games during her career to stack up seventh in program annals. Davis also pulled down 20 rebounds vs. No. 12/12 Kentucky on Jan. 24, becoming only the eighth Lady Vol to do that and tying for the fifth-highest total in UT history.
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 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing the Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, the Wooden Award All American Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legends of Coaching recipient.
Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Kevin Durant (’07), Candace Parker (’07; ’08), Maya Moore (’09; ’11), Chiney Ogwumike (’14), Breanna Stewart (’15; ’16) and last year’s recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Obi Toppin of Dayton.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
2020-21 John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Paige Bueckers, UConn
Charli Collier, Texas
Zia Cooke, South Carolina
Elissa Cunane, NC State
Rennia Davis, Tennessee
Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas
Dana Evans, Louisville
Arella Guirantes, Rutgers
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Rickea Jackson, Mississippi State
Ashley Joens, Iowa State
Haley Jones, Stanford
Natasha Mack, Oklahoma State
Aari McDonald, Arizona
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn
Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA
NaLyssa Smith, Baylor
Kiana Williams, Stanford
-UT Athletics
