Jo Leedham Named British Basketball Athlete of the Year 2013 - Hoopsfix.com

Jo Leedham Named British Basketball Athlete of the Year 2013

British Basketball has announced Jo Leedham as their 2013 “Athlete of the Year’ in recognition for her achievements on the court last year.

It is the second time Leedham has picked up the award, previously earning the accolade in 2009.

It has been a remarkable 2013 for the 26 year-old from Ellesmere Port. Jo joined French club Bourges in mid-January and in March became only the second British player ever to play in the semi-finals of EuroLeague women, averaging 8.4 points for her side in the 2012-13 competition. She also helped the team to the French LFB play-off championship and was fortunate to sign a rookie contract with WNBA side the Connecticut Sun.

This signing precluded her from being involved in any of the Standard Life GB’s preparation games but Leedham did not make the Suns’ final cut and was able to return to the UK to re-join her GB team mates ahead of EuroBasket Women Finals 2013.

She was a standout in EuroBasket as the British team reached the second round for the second successive time with Leedham personally ranked top of the table for assists (4.5 per game) and also was third top scorer in the tournament, averaging 16.8 points per game. She also ranked in the top ten players for rebounds (7.3 per game) and steals (1.7 per game).

Since EuroBasket, Jo has returned to Bourges and has helped her French side to the top of the LFB with just one defeat and into contention for qualification from Group A in EuroLeague Women.

Such is her success that Leedham has been named the British Olympic Association’s Olympic Athlete Of The Year for basketball and nominated for the FIBA Europe Women’s Player Of The Year award.

Jo joins the likes of Natalie Stafford (2012), Julie Page (2011), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (2010) and Luol Deng (2007 and 2008) in receiving this honour.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *