LSU trio named to Wooden Award Top 20 Watch List

Chelsea Reinhardt

BATON ROUGE, La. – Three LSU women’s basketball players were named to the John R. Wooden Late Midseason Top 20 Watch List, which is awarded to the nation’s top player in collegiate women’s basketball, the organization announced Tuesday.

Senior Flau’jae Johnson and juniors Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley received the late midseason recognition for their play through three quarters of the 2025-26 season. Twenty-five games in, the elite trio leads the Tigers in scoring.

LSU is the only school in the country with three players named to the watch list.

Johnson, a native of Savannah, Ga., is averaging 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. She has been one of the vocal leaders for the sixth-ranked Tiger squad, helping LSU to 22 overall wins so far, including a stretch of seven straight SEC victories that featured a 70-65 win over No. 2 Texas at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on January 11.

Williams, a product of Bossier City, La., has averaged 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists through 25 games. Williams is no stranger to clutch shots in her college career, and her impact on this year’s LSU team has been no different. Most notably, Williams drained a clutch three-pointer with one second on the shot clock and 1:20 left on the game clock against the Longhorns to ice that win away for LSU.

Williams has scored in double figures over the last five games since the Florida matchup. She has done so in 19 of 25 games played.

Fulwiley, who hails from Columbia, S.C., has continuously provided LSU with electric playmaking since arriving in Baton Rouge. Through 25 games, Fulwiley is averaging 13.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.2 steals per contest. She has contributed to the Tigers’ top offense, while being very active around the ball on defense, leading the team in steals with 80. Her 80 steals ranks first in the SEC and ninth nationally.

With one more steal, Fulwiley will jump into the LSU top 10 for steals recorded in a single season. Raigyne Moncrief Louis leads the way with 107 steals during the 2016-17 season in 32 games played.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2026 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year. Players not selected for the late midseason list remain eligible for inclusion on the Wooden Award National Ballot. The National Ballot will feature 15 top players who have demonstrated to their universities that they meet or exceed the Wooden Award qualifications.

Wooden Award voters will be invited to rank 10 of the 15 players on the ballot in order of preference when voting opens during the NCAA Tournament. Voters will also consider performances in the tournament’s early rounds, players’ contributions to their teams, and their character.

The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced during the week of the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. Celebrating its fiftieth year, the Wooden Award has featured special programming with first winner and ambassador Marques Johnson, culminating in the 2026 John R. Wooden Award. Winners and All-Americans will be honored at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Friday, April 10, 2026.

Current LSU assistant coach Seimone Augustus is the program’s lone winner of the Wooden Award. She won it in back-to-back seasons in 2005 and 2006.