University of North Carolina Athletics
Larkins, Latta Named To Wade Watch List
August 17, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 17, 2006
North Carolina's Erlana Larkins and Ivory Latta are among 25 women's basketball players named to the 2007 Wade Watch list, announced Thursday by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Wade Trophy is presented annually to the Division I Player of the Year.
UNC is one of four schools with more than one player on to the watch list. Maryland, the defending NCAA champion, has four and Duke and Stanford join Carolina with two each.
Larkins and Latta are among nine who also were on the Wade Watch list for the 2005-06 season. Others named for the second year in a row are Jessica Davenport (Ohio State), Shay Doron (Maryland), Sylvia Fowles (LSU), Tasha Humphrey (Georgia), Tiffany Jackson (Texas), Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) and Candice Wiggins (Stanford).
The 25 student-athletes represent eight different conferences and the Atlantic Coast Conference leads the way with eight candidates. The Pac-10 and the Southeastern Conference are tied for second with four each. The Big East follows with three, and the Big Ten and Big 12 each have two. The Sun Belt and Conference USA each have one player represented.
The State Farm Wade Trophy, now in its 29th year and named after 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. The award is organized by the WBCA, in conjunction with the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS).
LSU's Seimone Augustus has won the Wade Trophy in each of the last two years, becoming just the second two-time recipient of the award. The other was Nancy Lieberman in 1979 and 1980.
The 2007 State Farm Wade Trophy winner will be announced during the WBCA National Convention held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four in Cleveland, Ohio, March 30-April 3, 2007.
The preseason candidates for The State Farm Wade Trophy, listed in alphabetical order, are as follows:
Matee Ajavon (Junior, G, Rutgers); Alison Bales (Senior, C, Duke); Marissa Coleman (Sophomore, G/F, Maryland); Jazz Covington (Senior, C, Louisville); Jessica Davenport (Senior, C, Ohio State); Jessica Dickson (Senior, F, South Florida); Shay Doron (Senior, G, Maryland); Sylvia Fowles (Junior, C, LSU); Katie Gearlds (Senior, G/F, Purdue); Lindsey Harding (Senior, G, Duke); Tasha Humphrey (Junior, F, Georgia); Tiffany Jackson (Senior, F, Texas); Crystal Kelly (Junior, F, Western Kentucky); Crystal Langhorne (Junior, C/F, Maryland); Erlana Larkins (Junior, F, North Carolina); Ivory Latta (Senior, G, North Carolina): Eshaya Murphy (Senior, G, Southern California); Courtney Paris (Sophomore, C, Oklahoma); Candace Parker (Sophomore. F, Tennessee); Armintie Price (Senior, G, Mississippi); Noelle Quinn (Senior, G, UCLA); Jillian Robbins (Senior, F, Tulsa); Brooke Smith (Senior, C, Stanford); Kristi Toliver (Sophomore, G, Maryland); Candice Wiggins (Junior, G, Stanford)
