USC’s Kara Dunn Named to Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List
October 28, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Guard was Georgia Tech’s top scorer and an all-conference first-teamer before transferring to USC.
LOS ANGELES - As she sets up for her first season as a Trojan, grad transfer Kara Dunn has earned a place on the Preseason Watch List for the prestigious Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which goes to the top shooting guard in the nation. Dunn is one of 20 candidates on the Preseason Watch List, as announced today (Oct. 29) by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Dunn joins the Women of Troy this season as a grad transfer from Georgia Tech, where she earned a spot on the All-ACC First Team during the 2024-25 season, leading the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 15.5 points per game and starting all 33 games in their run to the NCAA Tournament. She shot 49.3 percent from the floor and 80.2 percent from the free-throw line while hitting 52 threes and was second on the team with 5.8 rebounds per game. Dunn was selected a USBWA National Player of the Week in helping Georgia Tech to a 14-0 start to the season, putting up a season-high 28 points in a win over Pitt. As a sophomore, she also averaged 15.5 points per game for the Jackets, starting 26 of 30 games played that year. She was a 2024 All-ACC Second Team selection as a sophomore, also earning an ACC Player of the Week pick along the way. Before arriving at Georgia Tech, Dunn was ranked as the No. 2 recruit out of Georgia in 2022, having won a Class A Private state title with Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, Ga., as a high school senior.
The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, in its ninth year, honors the top shooting guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. It is named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer, the first player, regardless of gender, to be chosen for an All-America Team in four consecutive college seasons.
USC's JuJu Watkins has won the prestigious award the past two seasons.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting in each of the three rounds starting on Friday, October 31. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to the Meyers Drysdale and Hall of Fame's selection committees, where winners will be selected. The Selection Committee for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is composed of top college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.
The winner of the 2026 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the four other members of the Men's and Women's Starting Five.
For more information on the 2025 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophallu and #DrysdaleAward on X and Instagram.
About Ann Meyers Drysdale:
Ann Meyers Drysdale's career escalated women's basketball to a new level. Meyers Drysdale was the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full athletic scholarship to UCLA. Her high-octane approach translated into wins and awards and she finished her stellar career at UCLA owning 12 of 13 school records. A supremely talented all-around player with natural basketball ability and instincts, Meyers Drysdale was the first player, male or female, named to the All-America team in four straight seasons. She also played on the first women's Olympic team in 1976. After an All-America career, she became the first woman player drafted into the Women's Basketball League and made history by becoming the first female player to try out with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers. Meyers Drysdale pushed the envelope in women's basketball, bringing a feel and sense for the game that few players ever experience.
About the WBCA:
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. For more information, visit us online: WBCA.org, follow @wbca1981, or call 1-770-279-8027.
About the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and celebrating the game of basketball at every level—men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches, and contributors—both domestically and internationally. The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 450 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits, and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo "Court of Dreams." Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game's elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and events, visit hoophall.com, follow @hoophallu.
Dunn joins the Women of Troy this season as a grad transfer from Georgia Tech, where she earned a spot on the All-ACC First Team during the 2024-25 season, leading the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 15.5 points per game and starting all 33 games in their run to the NCAA Tournament. She shot 49.3 percent from the floor and 80.2 percent from the free-throw line while hitting 52 threes and was second on the team with 5.8 rebounds per game. Dunn was selected a USBWA National Player of the Week in helping Georgia Tech to a 14-0 start to the season, putting up a season-high 28 points in a win over Pitt. As a sophomore, she also averaged 15.5 points per game for the Jackets, starting 26 of 30 games played that year. She was a 2024 All-ACC Second Team selection as a sophomore, also earning an ACC Player of the Week pick along the way. Before arriving at Georgia Tech, Dunn was ranked as the No. 2 recruit out of Georgia in 2022, having won a Class A Private state title with Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, Ga., as a high school senior.
The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, in its ninth year, honors the top shooting guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. It is named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer, the first player, regardless of gender, to be chosen for an All-America Team in four consecutive college seasons.
USC's JuJu Watkins has won the prestigious award the past two seasons.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting in each of the three rounds starting on Friday, October 31. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to the Meyers Drysdale and Hall of Fame's selection committees, where winners will be selected. The Selection Committee for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is composed of top college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.
The winner of the 2026 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the four other members of the Men's and Women's Starting Five.
For more information on the 2025 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophallu and #DrysdaleAward on X and Instagram.
About Ann Meyers Drysdale:
Ann Meyers Drysdale's career escalated women's basketball to a new level. Meyers Drysdale was the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full athletic scholarship to UCLA. Her high-octane approach translated into wins and awards and she finished her stellar career at UCLA owning 12 of 13 school records. A supremely talented all-around player with natural basketball ability and instincts, Meyers Drysdale was the first player, male or female, named to the All-America team in four straight seasons. She also played on the first women's Olympic team in 1976. After an All-America career, she became the first woman player drafted into the Women's Basketball League and made history by becoming the first female player to try out with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers. Meyers Drysdale pushed the envelope in women's basketball, bringing a feel and sense for the game that few players ever experience.
About the WBCA:
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. For more information, visit us online: WBCA.org, follow @wbca1981, or call 1-770-279-8027.
About the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and celebrating the game of basketball at every level—men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches, and contributors—both domestically and internationally. The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 450 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits, and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo "Court of Dreams." Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game's elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and events, visit hoophall.com, follow @hoophallu.
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