LOS ANGELES – LSU’s star post duo of Aneesah Morrow and Angel Reese are both on the national ballot for the John Wooden Award the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Sunday, two of 15 finalists who are candidates for the Wooden Award All-America Team and Wooden Award Trophy as the most outstanding college basketball player in the United States.
LSU is one of three schools with two players on the Wooden Award National Ballot: Stanford (Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen), and Virginia Tech (Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley). LSU will play No. 1 South Carolina at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday on ESPN. The Gamecocks feature Kamilla Cardoso on the Wooden National Ballot. She hit a buzzer beater three, her first made three of her career, to help South Carolina remain undefeated.
Morrow and Reese are both double-double machines for the Tigers. They have recorded double-doubles in the same game 15 times this season, including Saturday in the SEC semi-finals. Reese has 22 double-doubles and Morrow has 19 to rank No. 3 and No. 7, respectively, in the nation.
Morrow is in her first year at LSU after being on the Wooden Award National Ballot the past two seasons at DePaul. Coming to the SEC, Morrow has continued to shine as one of the nation’s top players, averaging 16.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She also leads LSU with 83 steals and 41 blocks. Morrow, an undersized post, has been a key scorer at all three levels for the Tigers. Her quick release on turnaround jumpers allows her to get her shots off against bigger defenders and she ranks No. 10 in the SEC shooting at 47-percent.
Reese, the SEC Player of the Year, has continued to dominate in her second season at LSU. This season she is averaging 19.1 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. She currently has a double-double in 11 straight games, her third streak of at least 10 straight double-doubles at LSU. Reese has one game with 25 points and 20 rebounds against Auburn, her seventh 20/20 game and sixth 25/20 game. She has 11 games with 15+ rebounds and has scored 20+ in 15 games this year. Reese is particular dangerous on the offensive glass, leading the nation with 5.6 offensive rebounds per game.
“I can’t do my job without Aneesah,” Reese said after they both had double-doubles in the SEC semifinals. “Everybody always gives me the praise, but you’ve got to give Aneesah the praise for the things she does too. She does a lot of great things that I don’t do so I don’t want to always get the praise. Give Aneesah her props. Give her her flowers. She’s one of the top guards, posts, whatever you want to call her in the country. I don’t want this to always be on me. I don’t get the SEC Player of the Year without Aneesah. I don’t get my rebounds without Aneesah. I don’t score without Aneesah. You can give me my props, but we’re both player of the year at this point.”
Voting will take place from March 19th to March 26th, and voters take into consideration a player’s entire season of play, as well as the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The finalists for the 2024 Wooden Award presented by Principal will be announced on April 2nd.
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