Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski was named to the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Watch List when the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced its list of 20 preseason candidates for the award on Friday, Oct. 20.
Markowski, a 6-3 center from Lincoln, Neb., has been one of the nation’s top post players each of her first two seasons as a Husker. The junior earned preseason first-team All-Big Ten honors for the second straight year entering 2023-24. A two-time second-team All-Big Ten choice, Markowski was the only Big Ten player to average a double-double (12.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg) during the 2022-23 regular season. She finished the year by averaging 11.9 points and a Big Ten-best 9.8 rebounds, while leading Nebraska and tying for seventh in the conference with 31 blocks.
She scored in double figures 23 times, while adding 19 double-digit rebound games, while leading all Big Ten posts with 15 double-doubles on the year. Markowski’s 322 total rebounds also led the Big Ten and ranked as the fifth-highest season total in Nebraska history.
The 2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Markowski earned her second straight appearance on the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List. Last season, as the only sophomore on the list, she advanced to the Midseason Top 10 for the award.
Also a strong performer in the classroom, Markowski claimed Academic All-Big Ten honors a year ago and is a two-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.
A trio of returning first-team All-America centers lead the list of Lisa Leslie candidates, including Stanford’s Cameron Brink, Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes and Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley. Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee, a 2022 second-team All-American, also returns after missing the 2023 campaign with injury.
Markowski, who went head-to-head with Holmes and Kitley last season, also faced Taiyanna Jackson (Kansas, twice) and Jessika Carter (Mississippi State) a year ago. All four players joined Markowski on the watch list last season. Markowski will take on Holmes in Lincoln when the Huskers square off with Indiana (Jan. 7) and will meet Jackson when Nebraska travels to Kansas (Dec. 20). Markowski and the Huskers also will take on TCU’s Sedona Prince at the St. Pete Classic (Nov. 25). Prince, who is entering her sixth season of college basketball but first at TCU, opened her career at Texas but did not play in 2018-19. The 2018 McDonald’s High School All-American transferred to Oregon and was a teammate of Nebraska guard Jaz Shelley for two seasons (2019-20, 2020-21). The 6-7 Prince did not compete at Oregon last year after averaging 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in 2021-22.
Markowski is one of just four players entering their third seasons or less among the 20 Lisa Leslie Award candidates. The only sophomores in the group are UCLA’s Lauren Betts and Oregon State’s Raegan Beers.
Last season, Aliyah Boston (South Carolina) won her fourth consecutive Lisa Leslie Award. The only other winners of the award, which has been presented since 2018, are South Carolina’s A’Ja Wilson (2018) and Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (2019).
The list of candidates will be narrowed to 10 in late January, with plans to announce five finalists for the award in late March.
For more information, visit the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame at www.hoophallawards.com.
2023 Preseason Watch ListLisa Leslie Center of the Year (20)Cameron Brink, Sr. (Stanford)Mackenzie Holmes, Gr. (Indiana)Elizabeth Kitley, Gr. (Virginia Tech)Alexis Markowski, Jr. (Nebraska)Ayoka Lee, Sr. (Kansas State)Jessika Carter, Gr. (Mississippi State)Taiyanna Jackson, Jr. (Kansas)Tamari Key, RSr. (Tennessee)Taylor Jones, Sr. (Texas)Bella Murekatete, Gr. (Washington State)Rayah Marshall, Jr. (USC)Sedona Prince, RJr., TCU)Lauren Betts, So. (UCLA)Liz Scott, RSr. (Oklahoma)Kennedy Brown, Sr. (Duke)Ila Lane, Gr. (Cal)Raegen Beers, So. (Oregon State)Kamila Cardosa, Sr. (South Carolina)Desi-Rae Young, Sr. (UNLV)Maria Gakdeng, Jr. (North Carolina)
