The Wade watch list is out, and the women's season is already producing record lines
Four of the 15 names on the preseason list opened with big numbers, and LSU posted the largest winning margin in program history.
- The WBCA announced a 15-player preseason Wade Watch List on November 4, 2026, in the trophy's 50th year. m:…5824
- Kentucky's Clara Strack opened with 17 points, nine rebounds and six blocks against Morehead State in 22 minutes. m:…7304
- Vanderbilt's Blakes set the SEC single-season scoring record with 918 points in 2025-26. m:…9616
- LSU beat Southeastern Louisiana by 94 points, the largest margin of victory in program history. m:…4206
- USC's JuJu Watkins scored 21 points in 21 minutes against UNLV in her first regulation game in 588 days. m:…5824
The list
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced its 15-player preseason Wade Watch List on November 4, 2026, opening the race for a trophy now in its 50th year of presentation and described by the WBCA as the oldest national player of the year award in women's college basketball. m:…5824
The committee will review the list midseason before a winner is announced in April 2027, so the opening weeks of the season are effectively an audition for the 15 names already on it and for anyone playing their way onto it. m:…7304
Opening-week lines
Kentucky center Clara Strack, one of the 15, opened her season with 17 points, nine rebounds, six blocks, three assists and one steal against Morehead State in 22 minutes. It was her seventh honor of the 2026-27 season by the program's count, and it followed a 2025-26 campaign in which she averaged 16.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.53 blocks per game. She is also one of two returning finalists for the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year award. m:…7304
Vanderbilt junior guard Blakes, another of the 15, was a finalist for the Wade Trophy last season after setting the Southeastern Conference single-season scoring record with 918 points in 2025-26, a total that also set the NCAA sophomore scoring record. She opened this season with 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a win over Lipscomb, and she is also on the preseason watch lists for the Naismith Trophy and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year award. m:…9616
South Carolina junior Edwards, also on the list, set seven single-season program records in 2025-26 and opened this season with 23 points against Maryland. Her career average stands at 16.1 points per game on 55.3 percent shooting from the field. m:…9159
USC's JuJu Watkins, named to the list as well, scored 21 points in 21 minutes against UNLV as USC won 100-68, her first regulation game in 588 days. Watkins was a finalist for the trophy in each of her first two collegiate seasons. m:…5824
The LSU night
LSU's season opener produced the week's most lopsided line: a 94-point win over Southeastern Louisiana, the largest margin of victory in program history. ZaKiyah Johnson scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in that win, and Anna Minaeva added 14 points and 10 rebounds in her first collegiate action. m:…4206
LSU's Thursday home game against Texas Southern carries a halftime tribute to former LSU standout Angel Reese, who was named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and led the Atlanta Dream to their first WNBA Final appearance since 2013. LSU leads the all-time series against Texas Southern 6-0, and Texas Southern lost its opener 92-38 to Tulane. m:…4206
What to watch
The early evidence says the watch list is not just a preseason honor roll: four of its names have already posted the kind of lines that keep them on it. The midseason review is where the list can change, and the players chasing it will need opening-month numbers, not reputations, to force their way in. South Carolina, for one, does not wait long for its next test: the Gamecocks face North Carolina on November 8, 2026, in the Ally Tipoff doubleheader. m:…7304 m:…9159
What is still unresolved
- Which players, if any, are added to the Wade Watch List at the midseason review.
- Whether any of the four opening-week lines above holds up once conference play begins.
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