IRVING, Texas – Kansas sophomores Zakiyah Franklin and Holly Kersgieter earned recognition as a part of the Big 12 Conference Preseason Awards, picking up honorable mention accolades, the league announced Wednesday.
They were two of eight players selected in a vote of the league head coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
Franklin, who earned a spot on the 2020 Big 12 All-Freshman team, averaged 12.1 points per game and led the Jayhawks with 3.6 assists per game as a freshman. The postseason honor made her the third player in program history to be selected to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Franklin scored double-figures in 20 games, which was highlighted by a career-best of 25 points versus Oklahoma on Feb. 2, 2020.
Kersgieter finished last season as one of five Jayhawks to average double-figure points with 10.1 points per game. The Sand Springs, Oklahoma native led KU from beyond the arc, shooting a team-best .405 3-point field goal percentage. Her dominant performance against Indiana State on Nov. 11, 2019, earned her Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Week honors, which was a first for the program since 2015. In that game, she posted the first double-double of her career with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
A season ago, the Jayhawks finished 15-14 (.517), marking its first winning season in seven years. Before the season was cut short due to a global pandemic, Kansas was within reach of making its first postseason appearance in the WNIT.
The 2020-21 season opens on Nov. 25.
--kuathletics.com--