WVU's Jordan Harrison Named Finalist For Naismith Defensive Player of the Year

Despite a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at home to the Kentucky Wildcats, the West Virginia Mountaineers women’s basketball team is still continuing to set a new standard for the program. The team announced on Wednesday that senior guard Jordan Harrison has been named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

Head of the Snake 🐍

Jordan Harrison has been named a 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.#HailWV | @J_Harrison2022 pic.twitter.com/1i7LJ5Ombx
— WVU Women's Basketball (@WVUWBB) March 25, 2026

Harrison joins a stacked list of finalists for the award that recognizes the most outstanding defensive player in women’s college basketball this season, including UCLA’s Lauren Betts, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, and UCONN’s Sarah Strong.

The senior guard earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors this past season, as she averaged a career-high three steals per contest. The nomination is a culmination of four years of playing for head coach Mark Kellogg.

Harrison started her career at Stephen F. Austin, then transferred to WVU after her freshman season, following her coach. When she committed to WVU, she had not yet taken an official visit to the campus, showcasing the trust that Harrsion had in her coach. It’s safe to say that the gamble paid off for both of them, as they won at least 25 games in all three of their years together at WVU, and led the Mountaineers to a Big 12 tournament title, which earned the team hosting rights in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992. As it turns out, the duo may not be done leaving their mark on the Mountaineers program with this nomination.

Jordan Harrison has already cemented herself as a WVU women’s basketball legend

Harrison winning the award would be incredible for her and speak volumes to the program that Kellogg is building in Morgantown as a whole, but the outcome of this award won’t affect the fact that the guard has already taken her place among the best to ever play for WVU women’s basketball.

She earned Big 12 honors in all three of her seasons with the Mountaineers, while earning all-defense honors in the Big 12 twice. Harrison, of course, had her breakout season this past year when she became the true leader of the team. Not only did she earn the honor of the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, but she was also named the conference tournament's most outstanding player.

The guard scored 21 points, while recording three steals as WVU took down the TCU Horned Frogs to earn their first Big 12 conference tournament title in nine years. Kellogg has said on record that Harrison is one of his favorite players he has ever coached, and it is easy to see why. No player has better exemplified what Kellogg is looking for in a guard than Jordan Harrison, and the team will undoubtedly have an impossible task of replacing her next season as they look to build upon a memorable season in Morgantown.