Kierstan Bell Selected to the 2021-22 Naismith, Wade, and Wooden Watch Lists

FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU standout guard Kierstan Bell (Alliance, Ohio/Canton McKinley HS/Ohio State) has added three extra prestigious preseason Watch Lists to her spectacular resume as she was named right this moment to the Atlanta Tipoff Membership Naismith Trophy Watch Checklist, the John R. Wood Award Prime 50 Watch Checklist, and the Wade Watch Prime 30 Watch Checklist. Candidates for the Wood Award are picked for the Wood Award All-American Crew and the Most Excellent Participant Award, whereas the Wade Trophy is offered to the perfect participant in faculty girls’s basketball by the Girls’s Basketball Coaches Affiliation. The Naismith School Participant of the Yr Award is offered yearly to essentially the most excellent participant who achieves super on-court success.
 
Bell has beforehand been named to the Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award Prime-20 Watch Checklist offered by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame and the WBCA – it acknowledges the highest taking pictures guard in girls’s NCAA Division I basketball. She was additionally picked, alongside teammate Tishara Morehouse, as a member of the Becky Hammon Mid-Main Participant of the Yr Watch Checklist, whereas additionally being tabbed the ASUN Preseason Participant of the Yr.

“Kierstan is essentially the most versatile and environment friendly participant within the nation,” mentioned head coach Karl Smesko. “It’s nice to see her title listed with the easiest gamers within the nation.”

 

The Wood Award Watch Checklist represents eight conferences: the Pac-12 leads all conferences with 10 alternatives, adopted by the SEC and Large Ten with 9 every, the ACC with eight, the Large 12 with seven, the Large East with 5 and the Summit and ASUN with one choice apiece.

 

The gamers on the checklist are thought of robust candidates for the 2022 John R. Wood Award Girls’s Participant of the Yr offered by Wendy’s. Gamers not chosen to the preseason checklist are nonetheless eligible for the Wood Award™ midseason checklist, late season checklist, and the Nationwide Poll. The Nationwide Poll consists of 15 high gamers who’ve confirmed to their universities that they meet or exceed the {qualifications} of the Wood Award. Almost 1,000 voters will rank so as 10 of these 15 gamers when voting opens previous to the NCAA Match and can permit voters to consider efficiency throughout early spherical video games. The Wood Award All American Crew™ can be introduced the week of the “Elite Eight” spherical of the NCAA Match. The winner of the 2022 John R. Wood Award can be offered by Wendy’s following the NCAA Match in April.

 

The Wade Trophy — now in its forty fifth yr — is the oldest and most prestigious nationwide participant of the yr award in faculty girls’s basketball. It’s named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State College head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who received three consecutive nationwide championships with the Girl Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Well being, Bodily Training, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now often called SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been offered to the WBCA NCAA Division I Nationwide Participant of the Yr since 2001. The 2021-22 season would be the first wherein freshmen are eligible for the consideration. Nevertheless, no freshmen made the checklist.

 

The Wade Watch checklist of candidates for the Wade Trophy consists of gamers chosen by the WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America Choice Committee. The committee will assessment the checklist midseason to find out if extra gamers can be added primarily based on their play through the first half of the 2021-22 season.

The Naismith Watch Lists options 50 of the nation’s premier gamers chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Membership board of selectors comprising of head coaches, directors, and media members from throughout the US.

  

Bell, who grew to become the best rated recruit to ever play for FGCU and went on to have the perfect season in program historical past in 2020-21, has been named the sixteenth finest participant in NCAA Division I girls’s basketball heading into the 2021-22 season by ESPN.com. The junior is already on the point of 1,000 profession factors (958) by means of 56 profession video games.

 

In her first season at FGCU final yr, Bell had among the finest seasons of any participant within the nation by averaging 24.3 factors, 10.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.9 steals per sport. She grew to become the primary participant in ASUN historical past to be tabbed each the convention’s participant and newcomer of the yr, earned a spot on the Wade Trophy Mid-season Watch Checklist and landed on the NCAA.com Beginning 5 twice. Alongside the way in which, she was a six-time ASUN Participant of the Week and a conference-record 10-time ASUN Newcomer of the Week. On high of that, she compiled 16 double-doubles final yr, which not solely shattered this system’s single-season report however ranks third amongst all Eagles in a profession.

 

She was named the ASUN event MVP final yr, whereas main the Eagles to the ASUN event championship and ending the season because the nation’s fourth-leading scorer. Actually, Bell’s 24.3 factors per contest is the sixth finest common within the ASUN’s 36-year historical past. Her 81 3-point area objectives made is tied for seventh-most in program historical past, which additionally ties her for Twelfth-most in a single season in ASUN historical past. Actually, she made 3.11 3-point area objectives per sport, which is tied for the best common in convention historical past.

 

Final season, Bell earned a number of nationally prestigious awards and honors together with WBCA Honorable Point out All-American, Related Press Honorable Point out All-American, USBWA Honorable Point out All-American, ASUN Participant of the Yr (unanimous), and ASUN Newcomer of the Yr (unanimous). Bell additionally established new FGCU single-season information for complete factors (632), scoring common, area objectives made and defensive rebounds per sport. She led the ASUN in scoring, rebounding, area objectives made and 3-point area objectives made whereas ending second in blocks and third in steals. Her level complete final yr is the ninth-most in ASUN historical past and he or she grew to become the primary participant since Shanika Freeman in 2002-03 to eclipse 600 factors.

 

Bell and the Eagles will formally open the 2021-22 marketing campaign on Tuesday evening as they host Florida Memorial at Alico Enviornment. Tipoff is ready for five PM and tickets can be found on the Alico Enviornment Ticket Workplace. 

Season tickets, mini plans, group tickets, and single-game tickets for all video games for the 2021-22 marketing campaign are on sale by contacting the FGCU ticket workplace by telephone at 866-FGCU-TIX (866-342-8849) or by e-mail at tickets@fgcu.edu. Followers may also buy tickets on the Alico Enviornment Ticket Workplace between 9 AM-5 PM through the week. The Eagles will formally open the season on Nov. 9 in opposition to Florida Memorial with the non-conference residence slate additionally highlighted by Temple (11/12) and Princeton (12/1).

 

For full protection of the ladies’s basketball program, observe the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_WBB, on Facebook at /fgcuwbb and on-line at www.FGCUathletics.com. You too can sign-up to have information on FGCU girls’s basketball or different applications delivered on to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

 

 
*signifies participant chosen as 2020-21 Wood Award All American
**signifies participant chosen as 2020-21 Wood Award Winner
 

 
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IT TAKES A TEAM to attain our latest aim – a $10 million marketing campaign to deal with student-athlete wants in continued tutorial success, life abilities, psychological well being, vitamin, and power and conditioning in addition to departmental wants in facility enlargement and enchancment in addition to mentoring and management coaching for coaches and workers. The title embodies our mission and the aim of the E.A.G.L.E. Marketing campaign – Eagle Athletics Producing Lifetime Excellence. Be part of Our Crew and pledge your gift today to assist the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PROGRAM
Do you get pleasure from watching or following the FGCU girls’s basketball program? Would you wish to play a job within the progress of this system and assist take it to heights by no means earlier than skilled? In that case, you’ll be able to attain out to Director of Development, Matt Ring, about alternatives to make an affect on the experiences of our student-athletes. He could be reached by e-mail at mring@fgcu.edu or by workplace telephone at 239-745-4434.

COACH SMESKO

FGCU head coach Karl Smesko maintains a report of 580-125 (.823) total in his profession, which is the third-highest profitable share amongst lively Division I coaches behind solely UConn’s Geno Auriemma and Baylor’s Kim Mulkey. He has additionally led the Eagles to a 217-17 (.927) mark in ASUN common season play and a 27-2 (.931) report in ASUN event play. Over the previous 10 seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 153-5 (.968) report in convention play with six undefeated seasons. The 11-time ASUN Coach of the Yr has led this system to 11-straight 25-win seasons and 17-consecutive 20-win campaigns, together with 30-plus wins in 4 of the previous seven years. On high of all that, the Eagles are 519-98 all-time since Smesko began this system within the 2002-03 season, and the Inexperienced and Blue’s .841 all-time profitable share is the perfect in NCAA Division I girls’s basketball historical past.

 

#FEEDFGCU

FGCU Athletics sponsors occasions in November and April to learn the FGCU Campus Meals Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Meals Financial institution (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of selection. For extra info, together with methods to make a contribution, please go to www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and make the most of the hashtag #FeedFGCU to assist increase consciousness.

 

ABOUT FGCU

FGCU groups have mixed to win an unbelievable 85 convention common season and event titles in simply 13+ seasons on the Division I degree. Moreover, in simply 9 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a mixed 42 groups or people compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU applications have earned a top-25 nationwide rating of their respective sport – together with girls’s basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), seaside volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and each males’s soccer (2018, 2019) and ladies’s soccer (2018) as three of the latest. In 2016-17, the Inexperienced and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place end within the DI-AAA Learfield Administrators’ Cup and top-100 exhibiting nationally, forward of a number of Energy-5 and FBS establishments. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida finest seven groups earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for his or her Educational Progress Charge of their sport. FGCU additionally collectively earned a report 3.50 GPA within the classroom within the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the overall College undergraduate inhabitants for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall semesters every noticed one other milestone reached as all 15 applications achieved a 3.0-or-higher group GPA. The Eagles additionally served an all-time excessive 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being acknowledged as considered one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Group Service Award offered by the Fiesta Bowl.

—FGCUATHLETICS.COM—