SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 18, 2023) – Washington State Women's Basketball guard Charlisse Leger-Walker was one of 20 players named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List, the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced.

For the third straight season, the three-time All-American is up for the award presented annually to the best shooting guard in NCAA Division I. Leger-Walker is joined on the list by Pac-12 guards Hannah Jump (Stanford), Gianna Kneepkens (Utah) and Charisma Osborne (UCLA).

Ledger-Walker earned Preseason All-Pac-12 honors for the third-straight season after an All-America campaign last season, helping WSU to a Pac-12 Conference Tournament Title and its third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The senior from Waikato, New Zealand was named the Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, was one of ten finalists for the Anne Meyers Drysdale Award, was an All-Pac-12 selection, an Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention selection and a Academic All-America Second Team selection. Leger-Walker started all 30 games she appeared in and averaged 17.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 4.1 apg while shooting at a 40.3% clip including 68 made threes.

Started in 2018, the Selection Committee for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is composed of top women's college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, October 20. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Meyers Drysdale and the Hall of Fame's selection committee, where a winner will be selected.

The winner of the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men's Starting Five.

Ann Meyers Drysdale's career escalated women's basketball to a new level. She was the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full four-year athletic scholarship to UCLA. Her high-octane approach translated into wins and awards, and she finished her impressive career at UCLA, owning 12 of 13 school records, including becoming the first player to record a quadruple-double in UCLA history. A supremely talented all-around player with natural basketball ability and instincts, Meyers Drysdale was the first player, male or female, named to an All-America team in four straight seasons and was named Player of the Year during her senior year. While still at UCLA, she started on the first women's Olympic team in 1976. After an All-America career, she became the first player drafted into the Women's Basketball League, earning WBL MVP and making history by becoming the first female player to try out with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers, with whom she signed a free-agent contract. Meyers Drysdale pushed the envelope in women's basketball, bringing a feel and sense for the game that few players ever exhibited. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2007, she was the first American woman to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2012, Meyers Drysdale became one of the first annual honorees on the women's side of the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) with the organization's National Women's Player of the Year. Since retiring from professional play, she has had a very successful career as an NBA and WNBA executive, as well as a color commentator for the NBA, WNBA, and the Olympic Games in 1984, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. In 2005, she received the ASAMA Ronald Reagan Media Award, and in 2019, she was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Pac-12 Hall of Honor.

The Cougars return eight players including four starters from last year's team who won a program-record 23 games and captured the program's first Pac-12 Women's Basketball Championship. WSU knocked off three straight ranked teams in Las Vegas en route to the 2023 Pac-12 Championship and clinched their third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Ethridge, the 2022-23 National Coach of the Year by The Athletic, will see three All-Pac-12 players return this season led by All-America guard Leger-Walker.

Season tickets for the 2023-24 Washington State women's basketball season are on sale at WSUCougars.com or by calling the WSU Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-COUGS.

Follow the Cougs
For more information on the Washington State women's basketball team, follow @WSUCougarWBB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.