Named after the three-time All-American, 1994 National Player of the Year and Class of 2015 Hall of Famer, the annual award in its sixth year recognizes the top centers in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
“Lisa Leslie is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and her achievements at the collegiate, international and professional levels go largely unmatched by anyone in the game,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “The centers that have been named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List this year are among the best in the game, and we are excited to watch them excel on the court. We thank Lisa for her involvement in this selection process.”
With Key being in consideration for the Lisa Leslie Award, Tennessee is one of only three schools (Louisville and Texas are the others) with players at all five positions in the HoopHall Awards Women’s Starting Five. Also in the running are Jasmine Powell (Nancy Lieberman Award), Jordan Horston (Ann Meyers Drysdale Award), Rickea Jackson (Cheryl MIller Award) and Jasmine Franklin (Katrina McClain Award).
A 6-foot-6 senior center, Key averaged career highs in points (10.5), rebounds (8.1) and blocks (3.5) while shooting 58.1 percent from the field in 2021-22. She carded 11 double-doubles as a junior, including a school-record second triple-double, turning in the eighth-most double-doubles ever by a Lady Vol.
The 2022 Lisa Leslie top-five finalist and a 2021 semifinalist blocked a UT-record 119 shots to surpass Kelley Cain’s old mark of 113 and lead the NCAA with the No. 4 total in SEC history. Key raised her career blocks tally to a school-best 277, surpassing the 275 set by Candace Parker from 2005-08 and leaving her just 13 swats shy of entering the SEC career top 10 after only three seasons.
Key was named to the 2022 Coaches and Media All-SEC Second Teams and made the 2021 and 2022 SEC All-Defensive Teams. She also was a semifinalist for 2022 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Tennessee Athletics…