Press Release :: Women's Basketball Coaches Association

ATLANTA - The Women's Basketball Coaches Association, on behalf of the Wade Coalition, announced the 2008-09 preseason "Wade Watch" list for the State Farm Wade Trophy Division I Player of the Year Tuesday. The 25-member list is made up of top Division I student-athletes who best embody the spirit of Lily Margaret Wade according to the following criteria: game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability.

"Once again our committee has done an amazing job putting together a stellar group of student-athletes that have shown their leadership on the court, in the classroom and in the community," said committee chair Jeanne Lenti Ponsetto. "Each one represents all that this award is about, and I look forward to April when we will name another talented woman to this prestigious list."

This year's list has 18 institutions and six conferences represented. Connecticut boasts the highest number of nominees with three (Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore) while Cal (Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker), Duke (Chante Black and Abby Waner), Maryland (Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver), Rutgers (Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn) and Stanford (Jayne Appel and Kayla Pederson) each add two.

The BIG EAST leads all conferences yet again with eight student-athletes followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (6), the Pacific-10 Conference (4), the Big 12 Conference (3), Big Ten Conference (2) and Southeastern Conference (2).

Four seniors in Coleman, Paris, Toliver and Walker are making the list for the third year. Several others become two-time "Wade Watchers" including Allyssa DeHaan (Michigan State), Angel McCoughtry (Louisville), Appel, Charles, Hampton, Montgomery, Vaughn and Waner.

The only two-time winners of the Wade Trophy include Louisiana State's Seimone Augustus (2005 and 2006) and Old Dominion's Nancy Lieberman (1979 and 1980).

The State Farm Wade Trophy, now in its 32nd year and named after the late, legendary three-time national champion Delta State University coach, Lily Margaret Wade, debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women's national player of the year award in college basketball. This highly prestigious award, regarded as the "Heisman of Women's Basketball", is organized by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), in conjunction with the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS).

The 2009 State Farm Wade Trophy winner will be announced at the WBCA National Convention held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four in St. Louis, Mo., April 3-7, 2009.

2008-09 State Farm Wade Trophy Preseason List

The preseason candidates for the State Farm Wade Trophy are listed in alphabetical order:

The Wade Trophy Coalition was established in June of 2000 when the WBCA partnered with The National Association of Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS). For the past eight years the two have worked together to present The State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year Award. A committee comprised of coaches, administration and media from across the United States selects the winner.

About State Farm
State Farm(r) insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees serve over 75 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.6 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 22 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com(r) or in Canada statefarm.ca(tm).

About the NAGWS
The National Association of Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS) was established to develop and deliver equitable and quality sport opportunities for ALL girls and women through relevant research, advocacy, leadership development, educational strategies, and programming in a manner that promotes social justice and change.

About the WBCA
Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game as a sport for women and girls. For additional information about the WBCA, please visit wbca.org.