The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's® announced the Women's Preseason Top 50 Watch List on ESPN.com. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team™ and Most Outstanding Player Award.
VT's Aisha Sheppard and Elizabeth Kitley were included on the list Tuesday.
The duo was the conference's highest scoring pair last season averaging nearly 36 points per game. They combined to total 30 or more in 20 of Tech's 25 games and led the Hokies to a program-best six-game winning streak in ACC play and ultimately, a trip to the NCAA Tournament, where VT hadn't been in 15 seasons. The pair became the first set of VT teammates to earn First Team All-ACC honors in the same season last year.
Kitley, a Lisa Leslie Award Watch List athlete, was a top-five finalist a season ago where she was the only Power Five sophomore to average 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. Last season, the Summerfield, North Carolina native ranked in the top five in the ACC in points, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage.
Her 13 double-doubles vaulted her to sixth in program history with a total of 19 in 55 career games.
Kitley was one of six Power Five players to register 455 points and 259 or more rebounds. Additionally, she had two games where she scored 30 points, the only ACC athlete to accomplish the feat.
Her 21 rebounds against Wake Forest tied a VT program record.
For her career, Kitley has 55 starts in as many games and has averaged 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.
Kitley, a First Team All-ACC performer in 2021 and the league's Rookie of the Year in 2020 is a consensus All-ACC athlete this season and was second in voting for Preseason Player of the Year.
She was also the only league player to score 30 or more points multiple times during the season.
Sheppard, Tech's all-time leader in 3's with 306, recorded 87 triples in 2020-21, breaking her own single-season record. She led the ACC and was fifth nationally in that category. The grad student was named an Honorable Mention AP All-American in 2021.
Virginia Tech is one of 12 schools to place multiple athletes on the list and just one of three ACC schools (NC State and Georgia Tech).
Kitley's preseason accolades now include:
Preseason All-ACC
Lisa Leslie Award Watch List
ESPN Top 25
Wade Watch List
Wooden Award Top 50
Sheppard's preseason accolades now include:
Preseason All-ACC
Wooden Award Top 50