USC's Rayah Marshall lands on the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year watch list

Women's Basketball | November 1, 2024

LOS ANGELES – USC senior Rayah Marshall – making her fellow Trojan proud – has earned her second inclusion on the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year watch list as she begins her final season at USC. The Lisa Leslie Award, named after a true Trojan great, is in its eighth year and honors the best center in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. Marshall is once again one of 20 players up for the award, announced today (November 1) by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in partnership with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Lisa Leslie Award is in its eighth year.

Marshall is the fourth Trojan to be on the 2024-25 Naismith Starting 5 Watch List Talia von Oelhoffens Selected for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Watch List on October 28, JuJu Watkins' October 29, named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year watch list and Kiki Iriafens Ranked Oct. 31 on the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year watch list.

Marshall, a 6-4 senior center/forward, enters her final season at USC with 996 career points and 35 double-doubles. Her second stint on the Naismith watch list comes after she earned All-Pac-12 Team honors as a sophomore and Honorable Mention as a junior. She was also named to the NCAA Portland Region 3 All-Tournament Team for helping the Women of Troy reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 30 years. Marshall has now been named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List twice and was also recently honored on the Naismith Trophy Watch List.

Marshall and the Women of Troy enter the 2024-25 season as the third-ranked team in the country and will open the season next week in Paris. No. 3 USC takes on No. 20 Ole Miss in an Aflac Oui-Play game on November 4 at Adidas Arena in Paris, France.

Fans are encouraged to take part in fan voting in each of the three rounds starting Friday, November 1st. At the end of January, the watch list of 20 players for the Lisa Leslie Award will be reduced to 10 and at the end of February it will be reduced to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to the Lisa Leslie and Hall of Fame selection committees, where the winners will be selected. The Lisa Leslie Award Selection Committee is comprised of top college basketball personnel, including members of the media, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Fame members.

The winner of the 2025 Lisa Leslie Award will be presented along with the four other members of the men's and women's Starting Five on a date to be determined.
For more information about the 2025 Lisa Leslie Award and the latest updates, visit Hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophallu and #LeslieAward on X and Instagram.

About Lisa Leslie:
In the summer of 1997, the sport of women's basketball received another much-needed boost with the formation of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Los Angeles Sparks, the newest addition to the glitz and glamor of Tinseltown, have tapped Lisa Leslie from the University of Southern California. Leslie was a perfect fit for the Hollywood set, combining beauty and grace with strength and athleticism like no one else before. An eight-time All-Star and two-time World Champion, Leslie became the face of the WNBA. While she cemented her place as the dominant center athlete in the United States, her success increased with her success on the international stage, where she won four gold medals in Olympic competition. In 2002, Leslie gave Sparks fans a reason to get out of their seats when she became the first player to dunk in a WNBA game and then led the Sparks to the franchise's second championship and won their second Finals MVP. The three-time league MVP retired as the all-time leading rebounder in WNBA history and was an eight-time First Team All-WNBA player.

About the WBCA:
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association, founded in 1981, is the professional association for coaches in women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA provides educational resources coaches need to develop into better leaders, teachers and mentors for their players. offers trainers the opportunity to get in touch with professional colleagues; acts as a unifying voice of a diverse coaching community to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and others 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 Basketball Hall of Fame:
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born. It is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at all levels – men's and women's, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors – both domestically and international. The Hall of Fame Museum is home to more than 450 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame Museum each year to learn more about the game, experience the interactive exhibits and test their skills on Jerry Colangelo's “Court of Dreams.” Best known for its annual enshrinement ceremony honoring the game's elite, the Hall of Fame also hosts over 70 high school and college competitions across the country and abroad each year. For more information about the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and its events, visit Hoophall.com, follow @hoophallu or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.