Destiny Brown, Alcorn State
SWAC Announces Women’s Basketball Preseason Selections
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2024-25 Women’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish and Preseason All-SWAC teams and individual award winners during the league’s media day event on Thursday morning. The all-conference honors and preseason poll were voted on by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.
Grambling State was tabbed as the favorite heading into the season. The Lady Tigers were followed by Southern (2nd), Alabama A&M (3rd), Jackson State (4th) and Florida A&M (5th) to round out the top five preseason poll selections.
Prairie View A&M (6th), Alcorn State (7th), Bethune-Cookman (8th), Texas Southern (9th), Alabama State (10th), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11th), and Mississippi Valley State (12th) were tabbed to finish 6-12 respectively.
GSU led all preseason poll selections garnering 10 first place votes, followed by Alabama A&M (4), Jackson State (4), Florida A&M (3), Southern (2) and Prairie View A&M (1).
Alcorn State’s Destiny Brown was named Preseason Player of the Year, while Alabama A&M’s Alisha Wilson claimed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
Brown was one of Alcorn State's standout players, starting in 26 of her 31 appearances and playing 25.7 minutes per game. She led the team in scoring with an impressive 12.6 points per game. Brown was also a force on the boards, collecting 230 rebounds (7.4 per game), including 67 on the offensive end. Defensively, she recorded 57 steals and 37 blocks, making her one of the team's top contributors on both ends of the floor.
Wilson holds the Alabama A&M record for rebounds in a game with 24. She led the Bulldogs in rebounds in 14 games during the 2023-24 season. Wilson was also a significant presence on the defensive end of the floor averaging 0.8 blocks per game while tallying a total of 24 blocks during the season.
The complete list of the preseason poll rankings and all-conference selections and individual awards winners is listed below.
2024-25 SWAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
Predicted Order of Finish
- Grambling State- 276 (10)
- Southern- 232 (2)
- Alabama A&M- 226 (4)
- Jackson State- 211 (4)
- Florida A&M- 178 (3)
- Prairie View A&M- 165 (1)
- Alcorn State- 157
- Bethune-Cookman- 142
- Texas Southern- 117
- Alabama State- 114
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff- 86
- Mississippi Valley State- 46
*First place votes listed in parenthesis
2024-25 Preseason Women’s Basketball Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Destiny Brown, Alcorn State
Defensive Player of the Year
Alisha Wilson, Alabama A&M
All-SWAC First Team
Coriah Beck, Alabama A&M
Destiny Brown, Alcorn State
Cordasia Harris, Alabama State
Alisha Wilson, Alabama A&M
Sh'Diamond McKnight, Mississippi Valley State
All-SWAC Second Team
Jaida Belton, Texas Southern
Olivia Delancy, Florida A&M
Kayla Clark, Bethune-Cookman
Zy'Nyia White, Alcorn State
Chanelle McDonald, Bethune-Cookman
About the SWAC
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is considered one of the premier HBCU conferences in the country and currently ranks among the elite in the nation in terms of HBCU alumni playing with professional sports teams.
Current championship competition offered by the league includes competition for men in Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field and Tennis.
Women’s competition is offered in the sports of Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, Soccer, Softball, Tennis and Volleyball.
Follow the SWAC
For complete coverage of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, please follow the SWAC on social media at @TheSWAC (Twitter), @TheSWAC (Facebook), and @TheSWAC (Instagram) or visit the official home of the Southwestern Athletic Conference at www.swac.org.
