WVU Guard Jordan Harrison Wins Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Award

West Virginia Mountaineers senior guard Jordan Harrison was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the conference this week. Harrison earned the award in her third and final season with the Mountaineers, also marking the third consecutive year that the award has gone to a Mountaineer.

🌟 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝟏𝟐 𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 🌟

For the third straight season, the conference's best wears the Gold and Blue 🥷#HailWV pic.twitter.com/yV0U6SUAjR
— WVU Women's Basketball (@WVUWBB) March 3, 2026

Harrison has been nothing short of phenomenal for the Mountaineers since setting foot onto campus, totaling 264 steals and counting in her three seasons with the Mountaineers. Harrison has a close relationship with Mark Kellogg, so when he left Stephen F. Austin to take on the WVU job, Harrison followed her coach to Morgantown without even taking a visit.

Kellogg opened up about what Harrison has meant to him and her willingness to put her trust in him ahead of the team’s senior day this past Sunday.

“I've said she's one of my favorites that I've ever coached just because of the person she is and how hard she works, and obviously she's a talented player and to choose to come to follow me here was, you know, that I that meant a lot too. And she did it without even visiting at the time she committed, and then came on a visit after she had already said that she would come. So there was so much trust, you know, in her and me, and it's I think I've hopefully reciprocated it back with her.”  

“We've been through some battles,” Kellogg said. “So yeah, I'm pretty fond of that kid.”

Mark Kellogg’s defensive approach has changed the WVU women's basketball program

The Mountaineers boast a streak of having three consecutive Big 12 Conference Defensive Players of the Year. It is not a coincidence that this streak started when Kellogg took over the program in 2023. In his first three seasons, the Mountaineers have led the conference in turnover margin and steals per game.

Kellogg runs an aggressive press style of defense that has been creating a unique set of challenges for opposing teams each time they play the Mountaineers. J.J. Quinerly, who won the previous two Big 12 DPoY honors, and Jordan Harrison have set a high standard for the type of player it takes to play guard for Kellogg and the Mountaineers.

The future has never been brighter for the WVU women’s basketball program, which has earned the No. 2 seed and a double bye in the Big 12 Conference tournament and had one of its star players recognized as the best defensive player in the conference in just the past few days. Not to mention a 58-point win over Cincinnati on Sunday.

Harrison and the Mountaineers will begin their quest for the first Big 12 Conference tournament championship since 2017 when they play against the winner of Iowa State and Arizona State on Friday at 5:30 p.m.