The Tribune

GEORGE Washington senior forward Jonquel Jones was named one of 50 preseason candidates for the 2015-16 Naismith Trophy, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced.

The reigning Atlantic 10 Player and Defensive Player of the Year and a 2015 honourable mention All-American, Jones earns her third national player of the year consideration this season after also being selected to watch lists for the John R Wooden Award and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.

Jones is the nation’s leading rebounder with 15.9 boards per game and also leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring with 17.7 points per contest while ranking second in the conference in blocked shots (2.6 bpg).

The Freeport, Bahamas, native has posted seven straight double-doubles, the second-highest total in Division I, including a pair of 20-point, 20-rebound efforts.

The winner of three straight A-10 Player of the Week awards, Jones grabbed a school-record 26 rebounds in a double-overtime victory over No. 25/21 Iowa on Nov. 27 in the Lone Star Showcase.

Jones scored her 1,000th career point on December 3 and ranks 13th among all active players in Division I with 848 career rebounds. In addition, she ranks ninth all-time at GW with 768 boards in three seasons as a Colonial, and she is sixth with 125 blocks during her time in Foggy Bottom.

Jones, who repeats on the Naismith Trophy watch list after advancing to the 30-member midseason list in 2014-15, is one of two Atlantic 10 players named to the list, joining Dayton’s Amber Deane.

The Naismith Trophy is presented annually to the men’s and women’s college basketball players of the Year.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors will narrow the list of 50 candidates down to a 30-member midseason team, which will be announced February 10.

Ten national semi-finalists from that group will be revealed on March 3, with four finalists selected by the voting academy - comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country - to the final ballot on March 18.

The Naismith Trophy winner will be announced at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Indianapolis on April 4.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club has presented the Naismith Trophy - named in honour of Dr James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball - since UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, first won the award in 1969. Old Dominion’s Anne Donovan won the inaugural Women’s Naismith Trophy in 1983.