University of Tennessee Athletics
Two Lady Vols In Wooden Award Midseason Top 25
January 07, 2026 | Women's Basketball
The Los Angeles Athletic Club's John R. Wooden Award, presented by Principal, announced its 2025-26 Women's Top 25 Midseason Watch List on Wednesday evening, and Tennessee's Janiah Barker and Talaysia Cooper are among the candidates.
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Selected by a poll of national college basketball experts, the list includes 25 student-athletes who are frontrunners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball: the Wooden Award All-American Team™ and the Wooden Award® Most Outstanding Player.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2026 John R. Wooden Award® Women's Player of the Year. Players not selected for the list remain eligible for inclusion on the Wooden Award® midseason, late-season list and the National Ballot. The National Ballot will feature 15 top players who have demonstrated to their universities that they meet or exceed the Wooden Award® qualifications.
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Celebrating its 50th year, the Wooden Award will feature special programming throughout the season with first winner and ambassador Marques Johnson, culminating in the 2026 John R. Wooden Award presented by Principal. Winners and All Americans will be honored at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Friday, April 10, 2026.
Barker and Cooper have helped Tennessee to a 10-3 start, including 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play, and a 6-0 record at home this season. They are the leaders of a Lady Vol squad ranked No. 20/22 this week in the national polls.
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Cooper was on four preseason watch lists, including the Wooden Award, Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy, the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the Nancy Lieberman Award. Additionally, she was a 2025-26 preseason All-SEC first team pick by the coaches and a second-team selection by the media after earning 2024-25 All-SEC Second Team acclaim from the coaches and media as well as SEC All-Defensive Team honors.
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The 6-foot, redshirt junior guard leads Tennessee in scoring at 14.9 points per game and averages 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.4 steals per contest. She has paced the Lady Vols in scoring on five occasions and has been the team leader in assists nine times, in steals eight times and three-pointers on three occasions. She has scored in double figures a team-leading 12 times, had 15+ points seven times and 20+ on two occasions and paces her squad with four double-doubles.
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The Turbeville, S.C., native, tied for the second-most steals in a game in Lady Vol history, carding 10 at Stanford, and adding 19 points and six assists in the victory over the Cardinal. The defensive menace also had seven steals vs. Coppin State and six vs. Middle Tennessee, helping her rank No. 18 nationally this season at 3.38 steals per game. She also has registered five or more assists four times, including nine vs. Coppin State, eight vs. UCLA, seven vs. NC State and six vs. Stanford.
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Barker, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, was named to three preseason watch lists in her first season at Tennessee after earning Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year accolades at UCLA in 2024-25. In addition to the Wooden Award list, she also was a member of the 2025-26 USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Preseason Watch List and the Katrina McClain Award Preseason Watch List.
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The Marietta, Ga., native is second in scoring and rebounding for the Big Orange, averaging 14.4 ppg. and 6.8 rpg. She shoots 48 percent from the field and has scored in double figures in 10 of 13 games, recording a pair of double-doubles and three games with double-digit rebound totals. Additionally, she ranks first for UT in free throws (50), second in field goals (61), steals (18) and blocks (12), and fourth in three-pointers (15).
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Barker has paced Tennessee in rebounding six times, in scoring three times and blocks on four occasions. She has six games with 15 or more points and three with 20+. She also ranks second on the team with three contests with three or more treys made.
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To keep up with the University of Tennessee women's basketball team on social media, follow @LadyVol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /BallWithTheLadyVols on Facebook.
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Selected by a poll of national college basketball experts, the list includes 25 student-athletes who are frontrunners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball: the Wooden Award All-American Team™ and the Wooden Award® Most Outstanding Player.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2026 John R. Wooden Award® Women's Player of the Year. Players not selected for the list remain eligible for inclusion on the Wooden Award® midseason, late-season list and the National Ballot. The National Ballot will feature 15 top players who have demonstrated to their universities that they meet or exceed the Wooden Award® qualifications.
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Celebrating its 50th year, the Wooden Award will feature special programming throughout the season with first winner and ambassador Marques Johnson, culminating in the 2026 John R. Wooden Award presented by Principal. Winners and All Americans will be honored at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Friday, April 10, 2026.
Barker and Cooper have helped Tennessee to a 10-3 start, including 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play, and a 6-0 record at home this season. They are the leaders of a Lady Vol squad ranked No. 20/22 this week in the national polls.
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Cooper was on four preseason watch lists, including the Wooden Award, Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy, the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the Nancy Lieberman Award. Additionally, she was a 2025-26 preseason All-SEC first team pick by the coaches and a second-team selection by the media after earning 2024-25 All-SEC Second Team acclaim from the coaches and media as well as SEC All-Defensive Team honors.
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The 6-foot, redshirt junior guard leads Tennessee in scoring at 14.9 points per game and averages 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.4 steals per contest. She has paced the Lady Vols in scoring on five occasions and has been the team leader in assists nine times, in steals eight times and three-pointers on three occasions. She has scored in double figures a team-leading 12 times, had 15+ points seven times and 20+ on two occasions and paces her squad with four double-doubles.
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The Turbeville, S.C., native, tied for the second-most steals in a game in Lady Vol history, carding 10 at Stanford, and adding 19 points and six assists in the victory over the Cardinal. The defensive menace also had seven steals vs. Coppin State and six vs. Middle Tennessee, helping her rank No. 18 nationally this season at 3.38 steals per game. She also has registered five or more assists four times, including nine vs. Coppin State, eight vs. UCLA, seven vs. NC State and six vs. Stanford.
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Barker, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, was named to three preseason watch lists in her first season at Tennessee after earning Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year accolades at UCLA in 2024-25. In addition to the Wooden Award list, she also was a member of the 2025-26 USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Preseason Watch List and the Katrina McClain Award Preseason Watch List.
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The Marietta, Ga., native is second in scoring and rebounding for the Big Orange, averaging 14.4 ppg. and 6.8 rpg. She shoots 48 percent from the field and has scored in double figures in 10 of 13 games, recording a pair of double-doubles and three games with double-digit rebound totals. Additionally, she ranks first for UT in free throws (50), second in field goals (61), steals (18) and blocks (12), and fourth in three-pointers (15).
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Barker has paced Tennessee in rebounding six times, in scoring three times and blocks on four occasions. She has six games with 15 or more points and three with 20+. She also ranks second on the team with three contests with three or more treys made.
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To keep up with the University of Tennessee women's basketball team on social media, follow @LadyVol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /BallWithTheLadyVols on Facebook.
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Players Mentioned
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