Ole Miss’ Shakira Austin, Jarkel Joiner Named Finalists for Gillom and Howell Trophies
JACKSON, Miss. – (release) Ole Miss women’s basketball center Shakira Austin and men’s basketball guard Jarkel Joiner have been named finalists for the Gillom and Howell Trophies, respectively, on Thursday morning.
The awards will be presented at a luncheon held at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame at 11:30 a.m. CT on March 7. Statewide media members who cover basketball voted for the top three for both the men and women, and the top players receiving votes will be asked to appear at the banquet. The media will then vote for the Most Outstanding Player from the three remaining players.
Austin, the reigning winner of the Gillom Trophy, was named a finalist alongside Ameshya Williams-Holliday of Jackson State and Anastasia Hayes of Mississippi State. For the Howell Trophy, Oxford native Joiner was named a finalist alongside Mississippi State’s Iverson Molinar and Southern Miss’ Tyler Stevenson. These players and their respective coaches will be at the luncheon. Featured guest Van Chancellor, the former Ole Miss and WNBA head coach, will speak to the gathering.
Austin received the award last season after a stellar junior campaign, breaking a string of six straight winners from Mississippi State. She recently eclipsed the 1,000-career rebound mark to become one of seven active players in Division I with 1,500 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Austin currently leads the Rebels with 14.6 points per game and 15.9 in SEC play. Austin was also named a Lisa Leslie Award Top-10 finalist, awarded to the best center in the nation.
Joiner leads the Ole Miss men’s team at 14.5 points per game in 18 games played, despite missing 10 total games due to injury and illness. Joiner is shooting 42.8 percent on the year, as well as 35.1 percent from three and a team-leading 81.5 percent from the free throw line. His best game of the year came in an offensive slugfest against Alabama on Feb. 9, when he dropped an Ole Miss career-high 33 points – tied for the most by any SEC player this season.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss; Feature image graphic: Nick Filipich, RebelWalk)
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
