Shelley Named Meyers Drysdale Candidate

Nebraska guard Jaz Shelley was honored Tuesday as one of 20 candidates nationally on the 2023 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List.

The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), honors the nation’s top shooting guard in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. It is named after the first player, male or female, selected to an All-America team in four straight college seasons (UCLA, 1975-78).

In her first season at Nebraska in 2021-22, Shelley made one of the greatest impacts of any Big Ten newcomer, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors and a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team. One of the nation’s top long-range shooters, Shelley set the Nebraska record and tied the Big Ten Tournament record by connecting on nine three-pointers in NU’s second-round tournament win over Illinois in Indianapolis on March 3, 2022. She finished with a career-high 32 points against the Fighting Illini.

Over the final six games of 2021-22, Shelley averaged 19.5 points and 4.0 made threes per game.

For the season, Shelley hit 40.6 percent (82-202) of her three-pointers on her way to averaging a team-best 13.1 points per game. She also led the Big Red in assists (5.0 apg), steals (1.8 spg) and blocked shots (0.9 bpg), while adding 6.3 rebounds per game. Shelley helped the Huskers to a 24-9 overall record that included a trip to the 2022 NCAA Tournament after advancing to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

Along the way, the 5-9 guard from Moe, Australia notched six double-doubles, including just the fourth triple-double in Nebraska history with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over North Carolina Central on Nov. 21, 2021.

The only college player on the Australian National Team at the FIBA Asia Cup in the summer of 2021, Shelley also earned a bronze medal with the Opals before beginning her third season of basketball in the United States. She spent her first two seasons as a reserve at Oregon.

The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List is loaded with Big Ten shooting guards, which creates the possibility of Shelley going head-to-head to against other candidates in as many as seven games during the 2022-23 regular season. Other shooting guard watch list candidates on Nebraska’s schedule include Leigha Brown (Michigan, Dec. 28, Lincoln; Feb. 12, Ann Arbor), Diamond Miller (Maryland, Dec. 4, College Park; Jan. 22, Lincoln), Sara Scalia (Jan. 1, Indiana, Bloomington) and Taylor Mikesell (Ohio State, Jan. 24, Lincoln). Shelley’s first match-up against another Meyers Drysdale Award candidate comes against Virginia Tech’s Ashley Owusu in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Blacksburg on Dec. 1. Owusu was the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner as a guard at Maryland.

Season, single-game and Starting Five Pack tickets are all available now for Nebraska women’s basketball through the Athletic Ticket Office at Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED.

A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. 

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, Oct. 21. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2023 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be narrowed to 10, and in late February a final list of five candidates will be selected. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Meyers Drysdale and the Hall of Fame selection committee with a winner being selected.

The winner of the 2023 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented on a date yet to be determined, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center).

Previous winners of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award are Christyn Williams (UConn, 2022), Ashley Owusu (Maryland, 2021), Aari McDonald (Arizona, 2020), Asia Durr (Louisville, 2019) and Victoria Vivians (Mississippi State, 2018).

For more information on the 2023 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MeyersAward on Twitter and Instagram.

2023 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List

Ja’Mee Asberry (Baylor)

Leigha Brown (Michigan)

Jakia Brown-Turner (NC State)

Zia Cooke (South Carolina)

Azzi Fudd (UConn)

Jordan Horston (Tennessee)

Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State)

Jade Loville (Arizona)

Taylor Mikesell (Ohio State)

Diamond Miller (Maryland)

Sonya Morris (Texas)

Charisma Osborne (UCLA)

Ashley Owusu (Virginia Tech)

Taylor Robertson (Oklahoma)

Sara Scalia (Indiana)

Jaz Shelley (Nebraska)

Cameron Swartz (Georgia Tech)

Celeste Taylor (Duke)

Elena Tsineke (South Florida)

Hailey Van Lith (Louisville)