The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Basketball's Cunningham selected to Lisa Leslie Center of the Year watch list
10.31.2025 | Women's Basketball
Cunningham begins her first year in Austin after transferring from Arizona.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Texas Women's Basketball junior Breya Cunningham was named to the 20 player watch list for the 2026 Lisa Leslie Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced on Friday.
Named after the three-time All-American,1994 National Player of the Year and Class of 2015 Hall of Famer, the Lisa Leslie Award in its eighth year recognizes the top centers in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
Cunningham earned Big 12 All-Conference honorable mention as a sophomore at Arizona in the 2024-25 season. She finished fourth in the league in total blocks (56) and eighth in the Big 12 in rebounds at 7.03 per game. She shot 56 percent from the field, the fifth best rate in the conference. Cunningham recorded four double-doubles on the season.
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Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award Watch List |
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NAME |
SCHOOL |
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Lara Rohkohl |
BYU |
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Sakima Walker |
Cal |
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Audi Crooks |
Iowa State |
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Clara Strack |
Kentucky |
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Laura Ziegler |
Louisville |
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Kate Koval |
LSU |
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Ra Shaya Kyle |
Miami |
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Ashley Sofilkanich |
Michigan |
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Tilda Trygger |
NC State |
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Megan Nestor |
North Texas |
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Raegan Beers |
Oklahoma |
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Gracie Merkle |
Penn State |
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Madina Okot |
South Carolina |
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Brooklyn Meyer |
South Dakota State |
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Kennedy Umeh |
Stanford |
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Texas |
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Lauren Ware |
Texas A&M |
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Lauren Betts |
UCLA |
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Serah Williams |
UConn |
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Aalyah Del Rosario |
Vanderbilt |
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, October 31. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2026 Lisa Leslie Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Leslie and the Hall of Fame's selection committee where a winner will be selected.
About Lisa Leslie:
Widely regarded as the best player in the country during her senior year of high school, Leslie decided to play basketball close to home at University of Southern California. While at USC, she set Pac-10 records for scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, earning All-Pac-10 honors each of her four seasons. In 1991, she was named national freshman of the year and went on to earn All-American Honors the following three seasons. In her senior season, she won multiple national player of the year awards, including the Naismith College Player of the Year and the WBCA Player of the Year. In the summer of 1997, the Women's National Basketball Association was launched and with it, Lisa Leslie became a household name. The Los Angeles Sparks landed the hometown star, who would go on to help them win two world championships. As an eight-time All-Star and three-time MVP, Leslie became the face of the WNBA. In 2002, she became the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. Leslie retired as the all-time leading rebounder in WNBA history and was an eight-time First Team All-WNBA performer. Internationally, Leslie won four gold medals in Olympic competition. Since retiring from professional play, Leslie has worked as a sports commentator and analyst for several networks, while exploring fashion modeling and acting as well.
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 Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Memorial 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 400 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 @hoophall or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.
