The shooting guard spent three seasons at Michigan and a partial season at Texas before transferring to play her final season with the Orange.
Laila Phelia, a senior guard for Syracuse, has been named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Preseason Top 20 Watchlist.
It’s one of the five Naismith Starting 5 awards, which are given out annually by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Phelia is entering her first season with the Orange. A 6-foot guard from Cincinnati, she started her career with Michigan in the 2021-22 season by averaging 8.8 points per game for a team that reached the school’s first-ever Elite Eight.
As a sophomore, she was selected to the All-Big Ten Second Team after averaging 16.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and shooting 41.7% from 3-point range. All-Big Ten First Team honors followed her junior season, when she averaged 16.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
The Wolverines also reached the NCAA Tournament in her sophomore and junior years.
Phelia transferred to Texas for her senior season but appeared in just eight games off the bench before suffering a season-ending eye injury. She was granted a medical redshirt, giving her one last year of eligibility.
She has fit right in with the Orange and will join Sophie Burrows and Dominique Darius as team captains.
Phelia is scheduled to make her regular-season debut with the Orange on Nov. 4, when Syracuse hosts Stony Brook at the JMA Wireless Dome. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The award honors Meyers Drysdale and recognizes the top shooting guard of the season in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Meyers Drysdale, now 70, starred at UCLA (1975-78) and was a four-time All-American who went on to play professionally and to represent the United States in international play. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.
Other players to make the watchlist are:
Taliah Scott, Baylor
Delaney Gibb, BYU
Lulu Twidale, Cal
Ashlon Jackson, Duke
Elle Evans, Kansas
Tajianna Roberts, Louisville
Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU
Kaylene Smikle, Maryland
Syla Swords, Michigan
Zamareya Jones, North Carolina State
Payton Verhulst, Oklahoma
Rachel Ullstrom, Richmond
Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina
Ruby Whitehorn, Tennessee
Gianna Kneepkens, UCLA
Azzi Fudd, UConn
Destiny Leo, UNLV
Kara Dunn, USC
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
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SYRACUSE FLIPS PENN STATE COMMIT: Alexander Haskell will play college football for the Orange instead of the Nittany Lions. READ HERE
CAPTURED IN ART: A mural of legendary basketball coach Jim Boeheim now graces a Syracuse building. READ HERE
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