Taiyanna Jackson

Scouting Report

Taiyanna is one of the best defensive centers on earth. Her timing, quick twitch reactions and length make her a perfect back-line defender. Offensively, she has grown as an offensive player. Her drop-step is incredibly hard to guard. She has stretched her range out to 15 feet. She runs the court like a 2 or 3 position player. She is a great athlete.

Career Honors:

Kansas
Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist (2023-24)
All-Big 12 First Team (2023-24)
All-Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2023-24)
Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year Watch List (2023-24)
Big 12 Player of The Week (Feb 5, 2024)
Unanimous Preseason All-Big 12 Team (2023-24)
WNIT Most Valuable Player (2023)
WBCA All-America Honorable Mention (2022-23)
Unanimous All-Big 12 First Team (2022-23)
Unanimous Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2022-23)
Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist (2022-23)
Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Candidate (2022-23)
Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year Watch List (2022-23)
Big 12 Player of the Week (Feb 13, 2023)
Big 12 Co-Player of the Week (Jan 3, 2023)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2021-22)
Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (2021-22)

Trinity Valley CC
NJCAA Region 14 Freshman of the Year

2022-23 (Senior)
Unanimous First Team All-Big 12 and Big 12 All-Defensive Team selection…Honorable Mention All-America selection by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, becoming KU’s first WBCA All-America honoree since 2014…Named the MVP of the WNIT after leading the Jayhawks with 17.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game in the tournament…Set the WNIT record with 33 offensive rebounds in the event…Finished the season with 23 double-doubles, the third-most in KU history…Ranked second in school history with 66.1 percent (230-348) shooting from the field, which ranked fourth nationally…One of five Power Five players to average a double-double…Ranked third in NCAA Division I in rebounds per game and sixth in blocks per game…Two-time Big 12 Player of the Week…Led the Big 12 in rebounds, blocked shots, field goal percentage and double-doubles…Averaged 15.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game, becoming the first Jayhawk player since 1981-82 to average a double-double for an entire season…Set the single-season school record for blocked shots with 109, surpassing her previous record of 95 from the 2021-22 season…Scored in double figures 30 times in 36 games, with six games of 20+ points…Set a career-high with 24 points on two occasions: at Saint Mary’s (Nov. 26), at Texas Tech (Feb. 11)…Pulled down 10 or more rebounds 27 times, including 10 games of 15+ rebounds and four with 20 or more…Matched her career-high with 21 rebounds on four occasions, most recently in the WNIT Championship game against Columbia (April 1)…Had multiple blocked shots in 31-of-36 games, with a season-high of six against Baylor (Jan. 7)…Shot 50 percent or better from the field in 32-of-36 games, including all six games in the WNIT…Ranked third on the team with 49 steals and totaled 42 assists for the year.

2021-22 (Junior)
Selected to Big 12 All-Defensive Team, becoming the first-ever KU player chosen to the team…Honorable Mention All-Big 12…Set a new single-season school record with 95 blocked shots…Ranked fourth in the nation in blocks…Recorded the No. 7 single-season mark in school history for field goal percentage, shooting 61.4 percent from the field…Helped KU set a new school record with 5.7 blocks per game…Blocked a career-high eight shots at Kansas State (Jan. 19), which is tied for third-highest single-game mark in school history…Led the Jayhawks with 8.7 rebounds per game and ranked fourth on the team with 8.9 points per game…Scored 10+ points in 12 games, including a career-high 18 against Oklahoma State (Feb. 2) and at Oklahoma (March 5)…Blocked at least two shots in 27-of-31 games…Pulled down a career-best 17 rebounds against TCU (Feb. 6).

Prior to Kansas
Played the forward position primarily for Trinity Valley Community College…Through her two seasons tallied 41 starts through 44 games played and averaged 7.2 minutes…Shot 58 percent from the field and 58.6 from the free throw line…Scored 10.3 points per game…Helped the Cardinals to a 22-3 overall record, 13-2 in conference play and a perfect 11-0 home record…Paced the Cardinals to 1,200 wins…Aided Trinity Valley CC to Region XIV Title..NJCAA Region 14 Freshman of the Year…Scored a triple double in the conference tournament

High School
Competed for head coach Eric Kundich with the Cardinals in 4A…Senior season tallied 17.6 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game, 3.7 steals per game and 3.2 blocks per game…Ended career averaging 12.3 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, 2.2 assists per game, 2.6 steals per game and 4.0 blocks per game…Scored 748 points, grabbed 653 rebounds, 133 assists 157 steals and 242 blocks on her career…Rated 95 overall four-star prospect by ESPN, part of ESPN 100…No. 54 overall, No. 12 post player nationally by ESPN…Ranked No. 67 overall, No. 13 post player by Prospect Nation…Ranked No. 1 prospect in state of Indiana by Rick Bolus Pre-Season Rankings…Ranked No. 3 prospect in state of Indiana by ESPN…Three-time IBCA All-State selection…Three-time Gary Post Tribune All-Area Selection…2017-18 IBCA Indiana Junior All-Star Team selection…Northwest Indiana Times, Gary Post Tribune and Indianapolis Star Preseason All-State selection in 2017-18 and 2018-19…IBCA and Indianapolis Star Indiana Miss Basketball candidate entering 2018-19 season…Previously committed to Ole Miss.

Personal
Granddaughter of Dorothy Phillips…Has four siblings, two brothers (Tyler and Tavaris) and two sisters (Tajanae and Tiara)…Twin sister Tiara plays basketball at IUP Northwest…Majoring in Kinesiology…Graduated from East Central High School.