South Carolina women's basketball guards named to Lieberman Award watch list

On Monday, South Carolina women’s basketball stars Te-Hina Paopao and Raven Johnson both found themselves on the preseason watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award. The country’s top point guard wins the honor during each season. The Lieberman Award will whittle the watch list at various points during the year. The final award announcement will come in March, likely during the Final Four.

While the two guards should start again this season (meaning there will be times when one plays shooting guard), they each will handle plenty of point guard duties for Dawn Staley’s team. Both Paopao and Johnson were nominees for last year’s award. Paopao was a finalist before Caitlin Clark won the honor.

The Gamecock duo joins UCLA’s Kiki Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles as the only teammates to make the 20-player watch list.

The news came shortly after Paopao, Johnson, and fellow Gamecock guard MiLaysia Fulwiley made the preseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy.

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From the Naismith Hall of Fame’s Bob Cousy Award and Nancy Lieberman Award preseason watch lists’ joint press release:

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the 20 watch-list candidates for the 2025 Bob Cousy Award and, in partnership with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the 20 watch-list candidates for the 2025 Nancy Lieberman Award.

The annual Bob Cousy Award, named after the Class of 1971 Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard, celebrates its 22nd year by highlighting the top point guard in Division I men’s college basketball. 

Now in its 26th year, the Nancy Lieberman Award recognizes the top point guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. To be considered for this prestigious award, candidates must exhibit the floor leadership, playmaking, and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman. 

2025 Bob Cousy Award Candidates*		2025 Nancy Lieberman Award Candidates*
Mark Sears	Alabama	Katie Dinnebier	Drake
Jeremy Roach	Baylor	Taina Mair	Duke
Tyrese Proctor	Duke	Makira Cook	Illinois
Walter Clayton Jr.	Florida	Lucy Olsen	Iowa
Malik Mack	Georgetown	Emily Ryan	Iowa State
Ryan Nembhard	Gonzaga	Serena Sundell	Kansas State
Myles Rice	Indiana	Georgia Amoore	Kentucky
Tamin Lipsey	Iowa State	Diamond Johnson	Norfolk State
Dajuan Harris Jr.	Kansas	Olivia Miles	Notre Dame
Josh Hubbard	Mississippi State	Hannah Hidalgo	Notre Dame
Elliot Cadeau	North Carolina	Deja Kelly	Oregon
Markus Burton	Notre Dame	Te-Hina Paopao	South Carolina
Bruce Thornton	Ohio State	Raven Johnson	South Carolina
Ace Baldwin Jr.	Penn State	Rori Harmon	Texas
Braden Smith	Purdue	Kiki Rice	UCLA
Dylan Harper	Rutgers	Charlisse Leger-Walker	UCLA
Zakai Zeigler	Tennessee	Paige Bueckers	UConn
Jordan Pope	Texas	Talia von Oelhoffen	USC
Wade Taylor IV	Texas A&M	Inês Vieira	Utah
Elijah Hawkins	Texas Tech	Jordan Harrison	West Virginia

*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2024-25 season.

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting in each of the three rounds starting on Friday, November 1. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2025 Bob Cousy and Nancy Lieberman Awards will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just 5. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Cousy, Lieberman, and the Hall of Fame’s selection committees, where winners will be selected. The Selection Committees for the Bob Cousy and Nancy Lieberman Awards are composed of top men’s and women’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers. 

The winners of the 2025 Cousy and Lieberman Awards will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the four other members of the Men’s and Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Jerry West and Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards (Shooting Guard), Julius Erving and Cheryl Miller Awards (Small Forward), Karl Malone and Katrina McClain Awards (Power Forward), and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lisa Leslie Awards (Center). 

Previous winners of the Bob Cousy Award include Tristen Newton, Connecticut (2024), Markquis Nowell, Kansas State (2023), Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois (2021), Ja Morant, Murray State (2019), Jalen Brunson, Villanova (2018), Trey Burke, Michigan (2013), Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (2012), Kemba Walker, Connecticut (2011), and Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph’s (2004). 

Previous winners of the Nancy Lieberman Award include Caitlin Clark, Iowa (2022-24), Paige Bueckers, UConn (2021), Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (2018-20), Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame (2012-13), Diana Taurasi, Connecticut (2003-04), and Sue Bird, Connecticut (2000-02).

For more information on the 2025 Bob Cousy and Nancy Lieberman Awards and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophallu, #CousyAward, and #LiebermanAward on X and Instagram.

About the WBCA: 

Founded in 1981, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers, and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. For more information, visit us online: WBCA.org, follow @wbca1981, or call 1-770-279-8027.

About the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: 

Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and celebrating the game of basketball at every level—men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches, and contributors—both domestically and internationally. 

The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 450 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits, and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo “Court of Dreams.” Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game’s elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum, and events, visit hoophall.com, follow @hoophallu, or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.

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