The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women’s Basketball’s Crump named to Tamika Catchings Award watch list
11.06.2025 | Women's Basketball
Aaliyah Crump is on the watch list for the national freshman of the year award.
INDIANAPOLIS — Texas women's basketball standout freshman Aaliyah Crump has been named to the watch list for the Tamika Catchings Award. The award, given by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association honors the national freshman of the year.
The USBWA has named a national freshman player of the year since the 1991-92 season. In the 2020-21 season the award was named for Tamika Catchings, the legendary Tennessee star who was a three-time USBWA All-American and the association's national freshman player of the year in the 1997-98 season.
Crump was ranked No. 5 in the ESPN 2025 class and played her first collegiate game on Monday for Texas, scoring 16 points and contributing five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In her junior season Crump averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 3.3 assists in leading her high school, Minnetonka to the 2024 4A State Championship.
Crump has been a member of USA Basketball since 2022 and in 2023 was part of the USA Women's U16 National Team that earned the Gold Medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Merida, Mexico. She ranked second on the team in made threes and three-point percentage.
When asked on Monday at the postgame press conference about playing in her first game Crump talked about the support of her teammates.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity," she said. "I have great teammates around me. I've put a lot of work in, but I'm so thankful to be surrounded by a great group of people, who have instilled so much confidence in me and I knew I was ready for that opportunity."
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, who are then voted on by the entire membership. The winner of the award will be announced at the 2026 Women's Final Four in Phoenix, with the formal presentation to follow at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
