Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

ATLANTA -- University of Delaware women’s basketball freshman Elena Delle Donne was selected to the 2009-10 Preseason Naismith Trophy Watch List announced Wednesday.

The 50-player watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2009-10 college basketball season. The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2010 NCAA Women’s Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.

Delle Donne (at right) was named the National Player of the Year by the Naismith, McDonald’s and Gatorade foundations during the 2007-08 season at Ursuline Academy. As a high school junior she was named co-Delaware State Player of the Year and was later tabbed Player of the Year as a senior after becoming the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association’s all-time leading scorer with 2,818 points.

In her collegiate debut, Delle Donne helped the Blue Hens tip-off their season with a 77-64 victory over Saint Francis University on Tuesday. The six-foot, five-inch forward/guard led UD with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks, while also contributing a steal. She also shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Delle Donne is joined on the watch list by fellow Colonial Athletic Association members, senior Gabriela Marginean of Drexel University and junior Dawn Evans of James Madison University. Marginean and Evans were voted to the CAA Preseason first team, while Delle Donne was named to the second team.

Since 2005, presenting sponsor AT&T has set the standard in allowing fans to participate in determining the trophy winner. Through the power and ease of text messaging, fan voting will account for an unprecedented 25 percent of the final results - more than any other national college basketball award.

In late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors will compile a mid-season team of the top 30 players in the nation. Then in March, the Naismith Trophy voting academy will vote to narrow the list to the four finalists.

Connecticut’s Maya Moore seeks to become the first player ever to win two Naismith trophies in high school and college, as the junior forward headlines the watch list. Moore won the Naismith National High School Girl’s Player of the Year award in both 2006 and 2007 at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Ga., and claimed the college award this past March. She is joined on the list by teammates Tina Charles and Tiffany Hayes.

Others to accomplish the dual-level feat of winning both a high school and college Naismith Trophy include Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi (2000 in high school; and both 2003 and 2004 in college), Tennessee’s Tamika Catchings (1997, 1998; 2000), Candace Parker (2003 and 2004; 2008) and Chamique Holdsclaw (1995; 1998 and 1999) and USC’s Lisa Leslie (1990; 1994).

The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball’s player of the year. For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com.

AGATE:

2009-10 Naismith Trophy Watch List: Jayne Appel, Stanford; Ashley Barlow, Notre Dame; Jessica Breland, North Carolina; Tina Charles, UCONN; Alysha Clark, Middle Tennessee; Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State; Elena Delle Donne, Delaware; Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame; Dawn Evans, James Madison; Rachele Fitz, Marist; Tyra Grant, Penn State; Alexis Gray-Lawson, California; Kelsey Griffin, Nebraska; Brittney Griner, Baylor; Lele Hardy, Clemson; Amber Harris, Xavier; Tiffany Hayes, UCONN; Allison Hightower, LSU; Ashley Houts, Georgia; Jareica Hughes, UTEP; Amy Jaeschke, Northwestern; Shenise Johnson, Miami; Jantel Lavender, Ohio State; Italee Lucas, North Carolina; Gabriela Marginean, Drexel; Danielle McCray, Kansas; Jacinta Monroe, Florida State; Alex Montgomery, Georgia Tech; Maya Moore, UCONN; Jené Morris, San Diego State; Deirdre Naughton, DePaul; Kayla Pedersen, Stanford; Ta’Shia Phillips, Xavier; Jeanette Pohlen, Stanford; Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State; Brittainey Raven, Texas; Danielle Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State; Robinson, Oklahoma; Angel Robinson, Marquette; Jenna Smith, Illinois; Da’Shena Stevens, St. John’s; Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee; Helena Sverrisdottir, TCU; Ashley Sweat, Kansas State; Carolyn Swords, Boston College; Bianca Thomas, Ole Miss; Jasmine Thomas, Duke; Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga; Kalee Whipple, Utah; Monica Wright, Virginia.