Ali Patberg Named to Pair of Preseason Watch Lists

Patberg was named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Top 50 preseason watch list and preseason Wade Watch list on Tuesday.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There's about a week left until the season starts and Indiana point guard Ali Patberg is still receiving accolades during the preseason.

On Tuesday, Patberg was named to two different preseason watch lists.

First, Patberg was named to the 2021 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Top 50 preseason watch list, announced on Tuesday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

She repeats as a Naismith Trophy honoree from last season as was a preseason and midseason candidate.

The midseason 30 team will be announced in early February; players who do not make the watch list are still eligible to be selected for the midseason 30 team. Then, the competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists on March 2, 2021, and four finalists will be named on March 19, 2021. The winner of the 2021 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy for Women’s Player of the Year will be announced on April 3, 2021.

Patberg was also named to the preseason Wade Watch list for the 2021 Wade Trophy, announced by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association on Tuesday.

She is just the third candidate in school history to earn a spot on the Wade Trophy preseason watch list, with Tyra Buss earned preseason honors in 2017 and 2018 while Hoosier great Denise Jackson was a finalist for the award in 1983 and 1984.

The Wade Trophy — now in its 44th year — is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women’s basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I National Player of the Year since 2001.

The “Wade Watch” list of candidates for the Wade Trophy is composed of players selected by the WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America Selection Committee. The committee will review the list midseason to determine if additional players will be added based on their play during the first half of the 2020-21 season.

Patberg and the Hoosiers are scheduled to kickoff the season around Nov. 25, which is the start date of college basketball, but details with their schedule are still being worked out.

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