MANHATTAN, Kansas – For the second straight season, K-State guard Gabby Gregory has been named to the 2023-24 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award Preseason Watch List. The award recognizes the top shooting guard in women’s college basketball every year.
Gregory, a unanimous selection for the 2023-24 Preseason All-Big 12 Team, was named a Top-10 candidate for the award in the 2022-23 season.
Named after the first player, male or female, named to an All-America Team in four straight college seasons, the annual award in its sixth year recognizes the top shooting guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. To be considered for this prestigious award, candidates must exhibit the tenacity and scoring prowess of Class of 1993 Hall of Famer Ann Meyers.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, October 20. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Meyers Drysdale and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee, where a winner will be selected.
The 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner 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 Nancy Lieberman Award Award (Point Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.
Other candidates for the award are: Gianna Kneepkens of Utah, Charisma Osborne of UCLA, Jaz Shelley of Nebraska, Charlisse Leger-Walker of Washington State, Ta’Niya Latson of Florida State, Celeste Taylor of Ohio State, Hailey Van Lith of LSU, Sara Scallia of Indiana, Laila Phelia of Michigan, Ashley Owusu of Penn State, Quinesha Lockett of Toledo, Brynna Maxwell of Gonzaga, Shaylee Gonzales of Texas, Hannah Jump of Stanford, Abbey Hsu of Columbia, Paige Bueckers of UConn, Sonia Citron of Notre Dame, JJ Quinerly of West Virginia and Sammie Puisis of USF.
Kansas State will face four of the candidates – Gonzales and Quinerly – during its 2023-24 schedule.
Gregory, the league’s top returning scorer from the 2022-23 season, established career season-highs in every statistical category including: scoring (648; 18.5 ppg), field goals made and attempted (201-of-489), three-point field goals made and attempted (84-of-257), free throws made and attempted (162-of-193), rebounding (187; 5.3 rpg), assists (71; 2.0 apg) and steals (24; 0.7 spg).
The product of Tulsa, Oklahoma, ranked second in the Big 12 in scoring (18.5 ppg), third in free throw percentage (.839), sixth in field goal percentage (.411) and 3-point field goals made per game (2.4) and eighth for minutes played per game (34.21) She was second in the Big 12 with 19 games of 20 or more points.
Gregory was one of five players in the nation last season to average 18 or more points, five or more rebounds and two or more 3-point field goals made per game. She was the first player in K-State history and one of four in the nation with 625 or more points, 160 or more made free throws and 80 or more connections from beyond the arc.
She ranked second in school history for free throws made in a season (162) and set the school record for free throws made by a senior in a season.
K-State will begin the 2023-24 season with an exhibition game on Friday, November 3, against Pittsburg State at 6:30 p.m. The Wildcats will kick off the non-conference portion of its schedule on Monday, November 6, against Presbyterian at 6:30 p.m.