Anderson Naismith Player of Year Candidate
December 11, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Junior guard Jolene Anderson (Port Wing, Wis.), is one of 50 premier players in the nation that are on the Naismith Watch List for the 2006-06 Naismith National Player of the Year. The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's players of the year.
The Top 50 list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, and administrators from around the country. The board based its pre-season criteria on player performances from last season and expectations for the 2006-07 season. The list will be narrowed in January to the top 30 players, and that list will be eligible for the final ballot voted on in March.
Anderson is a two-time USA Basketball gold medalist who has led the Badgers in scoring the past three seasons this year with 16.7 points per game which ranks second in the Big Ten. Last year she averaged 17.3 points per game which ranked fourth in the Big Ten in overall stats. She was the fastest male or female Badger to score 1,000 points (end of sophomore season; career points now 1,184), and has had 13 double-doubles in her career. She also leads the team in rebounding with 7.8 per game, and averages 3.18 assists and 3.18 steals.
A pre-season first team all-Big Ten pick, Anderson's double-figure scoring streak, the longest in the Big Ten, ended at 35 games after collecting just five points in the loss at UC-Riverside Nov. 28. She was named the MVP of the 2006 Rebel Shootout in Las Vegas recording her first double-double of the year and 12th of her carer with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the championship game with UNLV. She was also all-tournament and MPV of last year's 2005 Rainbow Wahini Classic in Hawaii.
