Taiyanna Jackson Named To Lisa Leslie Award Top 10 List

Posted on February 4, 2023

NCAA Basketball: Oklahoma State at Texas Tech

Kansas center Taiyanna Jackson is the only Big 12 player on the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award Top 10 list, which is the award given to the nation’s best center.

Jackson wasn’t on the original watch list entering the season. The only Big 12 player that was on the watch list was Texas center Taylor Jones.

Jackson has emerged as one of the Big 12’s most formidable presences in the paint. He leads the Big 12 in blocked shots (57), field goal percentage (64.9), double-doubles (13) and rebounding (12.4 per game) entering the weekend. Those totals are also among the Top 10 nationally.

Jackson leads the Jayhawks in scoring, averaging 15 points per game.

Last season Jackson emerged as a legitimate rim protector, as she set a school record for blocked shots with 95. She earned All-Big 12 Defensive Team honors.

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.

Previous winners of the Lisa Leslie Award are Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (2020-22), Megan Gustafson, Iowa (2019) and A’ja Wilson, South Carolina (2018).