Jazmine Massengill Tabbed to Nancy Lieberman Preseason Watch List
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky senior guard Jazmine Massengill has been tabbed one of 20 players nationally to the 2022 Nancy Lieberman Award Preseason Watch List, which annually seeks to honor the top point guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball, it was announced Monday.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association task a national committee of top college basketball personnel to determine the watch list of 20 candidates. To be considered for this prestigious award, candidates exhibit the floor leadership, playmaking and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman. The award is in its 23rd year.
College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in fan voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2022 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Ms. Lieberman and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.
The winner of the 2022 Nancy Lieberman 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 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.
Massengill will be looked at to lead the Wildcats from the point guard position this season. The native of Chattanooga, Tenn., is in her second season with Kentucky and played in 19 games last season with eight starts. The guard averaged 5.1 points and 3.3 assists per game with three or more assists in nine games. She led Kentucky in assists six times during the season.
Massengill made her Kentucky debut against Wofford on Dec. 19 after missing the first half of the season due to NCAA transfer rules. In her debut, she played 18 minutes with a 3-pointer, two assists and a steal. In Kentucky’s SEC opener against top-20 ranked Arkansas, Massengill scored five points with three assists and three blocks. She had seven assists against Auburn and played her best game against Tennessee at Rupp Arena, scoring 11 points, including 3-of-5 from long range with three assists. She recorded a season-high 10 assists against Florida, adding nine points.
She came to Kentucky last offseason after spending two years at Tennessee, where she was a key reserve her freshman season and a starter her sophomore season. The 6-foot guard averaged 6.5 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and 4.1 assists per game as a sophomore, hitting 40 percent from the field and tripled her output from long range after hitting only a handful of 3s as a freshman. Massengill finished second on the team with 128 assists while adding 23 blocks and 27 steals in 2019-20.
2022 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Candidates
Dyaisha Fair – Buffalo
Ali Patberg – Indiana
Caitlin Clark – Iowa
Jazmine Massengill – Kentucky
Hailey Van Lith – Louisville
Ashley Owusu – Maryland
Amy Dilk – Michigan
Myah Taylor – Mississippi St.
Anastasia Hayes – Mississippi St.
Raina Perez – NC State
Diamond Johnson – NC State
Veronica Burton – Northwestern
Te-Hina Pao Pao – Oregon
Lauren Park-Lane – Seton Hall
Destanni Henderson – South Carolina
Lauren Heard – TCU
Gina Conti – UCLA
Paige Bueckers – UConn
Dru Gylten – Utah
Katia Gallegos – UTEP
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
