Nov. 30, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Four South Carolina women’s basketball players have been named to the 2017 Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday. Senior Alaina Coates and juniors A’ja Wilson, Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis landed on the 50-player list for the Gamecocks, whose four honorees matched UConn for the most among all schools.
This season marks the second-straight year Wilson and Coates have been in contention for the award that honors the top women’s college basketball player. Wilson was tabbed a finalist for the 2016 Naismith Trophy, while Coates earned a spot on the award’s Midseason Watch List as a junior.
This year’s list will be cut to 30 on Feb 8., 2017, and the finalists for the honor will be revealed in March.
Coates continues to stuff the stat sheet for the Gamecocks in her senior season. The center has recorded a double-double in four of five games this year, and she leads the SEC and is second in Division I with 12.8 rebounds per game. Coates’ 994 career rebounds and 46 double-doubles rank first among active NCAA Division I players.
Wilson, the No. 1 rated player by ESPNW for this year, has scored in double figures in four of South Carolina’s first five games this season. The forward garnered 2016 SEC Player of the Year accolades as a sophomore and was tabbed a consensus first-team All-American. Her 181 career blocks rank first in program history and 12th among active Division I players, and she is one of two Gamecocks all-time to reach 1,000 career points as a sophomore.
Gray has been a reliable scorer in her first season at South Carolina, ranking second on the team with 16.0 points per game. The junior guard, who played two seasons at North Carolina before joining the Gamecocks, is fifth in Division I this year with a 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Davis, another junior transfer, ranks in the top three in the SEC in 3-pointers made per game and 3-point field goal percentage, and her 15.4 points per game are good for third among Gamecocks. She is one of two SEC players to rank among the league’s top 20 in scoring and rebounding and the top 15 in assists. The guard from Suwanee, Ga., is in her first season at South Carolina after earning All-ACC honors twice while at Georgia Tech.
The No. 3/3 Gamecocks (5-0) return to action on Thu., Dec. 1, on the road against No. 14/15 Texas (2-2) for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The contest, which will air on ESPN2, tips off at the Frank Erwin Center at 7 p.m. ET.
