North Carolina State University Athletics
James Makes Wooden Award National Ballot
3/13/2025 11:44:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Aziaha James of the No. 9/9 NC State women's basketball team has been named on the 2025-25 Women's National Ballot of the John R. Wooden Award presented by Principal. The 15 finalists were announced on ESPN College GameDay last Sunday.
The 15 student-athletes are candidates for the Wooden Award All-America Team and the Wooden Award Trophy, presented annually to the most outstanding college basketball player.
James is a two-time All-ACC First Team selection, earning her second straight First Team honors last week. She is averaging a team-leading 17.8 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the field, 32.9 percent from the three-point line and 73.6 percent from the free throw line. James is also averaging 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
The senior has been huge in pacing the Pack to 26-6 record, 16-2 in the ACC to share the ACC Regular Season Championship and earn a No. 1 seed. In the ACC Tournament, James was named to the All-Tournament First Team after having averaged 17.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in the Pack's three games, including a title game appearance.
She has reached double-digits in scoring in all but one game this season and has led the Pack in scoring in 17 games. The Virginia Beach, Virginia product has 13 20-point games and one 30-point outing this season, which came behind a career-high 36 points against No. 10/10 Duke to be named the Player of the Week by the ACC, Naismith and USBWA, as well as the AP Player of the Week runner-up. She has taken 32 charges this season to average nearly one per game. James is a 1,500-point scorer, one of 19 in school history, and with 1,536 career points, sits No. 16 all-time in scoring and seventh in career 3-pointers (176).
All players on the ballot have been certified by their respective universities as meeting or exceeding the qualifications set forth by Coach Wooden when the award was established. These qualifications include:
- Candidates must be full-time students at an accredited NCAA college or university.
- Candidates must be making progress toward graduation and maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 since enrolling.
- Candidates must contribute significantly to their team's success.
- Candidates must excel in both offensive and defensive aspects of the game.
- Candidates must be evaluated based on their performance over the entire season.
- Candidates must demonstrate strength of character, both on and off the court.
Voting will take place from March 10 to March 24, with voters considering a player's entire season, including the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The finalists for the 2025 Wooden Award presented by Principal will be announced on April 1 on ESPN.
James and the Pack will find out its postseason fate during the Selection Show on Sunday, March 16 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
Wooden Award Top 15 Ballot (Alphabetical)
1. Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
2. Lauren Betts, UCLA
3. Madison Booker, Texas
4. Paige Bueckers, UConn
5. Audi Crooks, Iowa State
6. Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
7. Aziaha James, NC State
8. Flau'jae Johnson, LSU
9. Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State
10. Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
11. Aneesah Morrow, LSU
12. Sedona Prince, TCU
13. Sarah Strong, UConn
14. Hailey Van Lith, TCU
15. JuJu Watkins, USC
Awards/Watch Lists for Aziaha James this Season:
- Wooden Award Top 15 Ballot (3/9)
- ACC All Tournament First Team (3/9)
- All-ACC First Team (3/5)
- Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Midseason Team
- Wooden Award Award Late Midseason Top 20 Watch List (2/11)
- March Madness Player of the Week (2/11)
- AP Player of the Week Runner-Up (2/11)
- USBWA National Player of the Week (2/11)
- Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Week (2/10)
- ACC Player of the Week (2/10)
- Women's College All-Star Game Watch List (2/4)
- USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Midseason Top 50 Watch List (2/3)
- USBWA National Player of the Week (1/21)
- Wooden Award Top 25 Midseason Watch List (1/7)
- Wooden Award Top 50 Preseason Watch List (11/7)
- Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Preseason Watch List (10/28)
- ACC Preseason Team (10/15)
