University Southern California Trojans
USC’s Jazzy Davidson Earns Spot on Wooden Award Preseason Watch List
November 18, 2025 | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – USC freshman Jazzy Davidson, who leads USC in scoring and minutes played this season, has been selected to the 2025-26 Women's Preseason Top 50 Watchlist for the John R. Wooden Award®, presented by Principal, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Tuesday (Nov. 18).
In her USC debut on Nov. 4, Davidson pinned up 14 points on New Mexico State. She followed it up with a 21-point performance against No. 9 NC State and logged five blocks for the Trojans. During that game, the freshman scored 11 points in a decisive fourth quarter that saw her deliver the winning basket in USC's victory over the Wolfpack.
With three games under her belt, including two against AP top 10 ranked opponents, Davidson is averaging a team high 14.3 PPG , 4.0 RPG, 3.7 APG and 2.3 BPG. Davidson has started all three games for the Trojans and is leading the squad in minutes played (30.0 minutes per game).
The complete watchlist can be found here https://www.woodenaward.com/wooden-watch/ .
The players on the Wooden Award Watch List are considered strong candidates for the 2026 John R. Wooden Award® Women's Player of the Year. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award® midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award®. Wooden Award™ voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during the tournament's early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament.
Celebrating its fiftieth year, the Wooden Award will feature special programming throughout the season with first winner and ambassador Marques Johnson, culminating in the 2026 John R. Wooden Award presented by Principal. Winners and All Americans will be honored at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Friday, April 10, 2026.
About the John R. Wooden Award®
Created in 1976, the Los Angeles Athletic Club John R. Wooden Award Program™ hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing The Wooden Award® Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All America™ Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award® Legend of Coaching recipient. Wooden Award® All Americans have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award® as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award® Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Candace Parker ('07; '08), Maya Moore ('09; '11), Breanna Stewart ('15; '16), and the last two year's ('23 &'24) recipients, Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Zach Edey of Purdue.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award® has made charitable gifts of nearly one million dollars in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award® partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award® Special Olympics basketball day. The event brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award® All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award® Weekend.
