NEW ORLEANS (July 9, 2025) – Aneesah Morrow, the star power forward for the LSU basketball team, has been selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl's James J. Corbett Award winner as the top female athlete in the state of Louisiana. The Corbett Awards have been presented since 1967 and its honorees include 20 NFL players, 10 MLB players, four NBA players, five WNBA players, and 11 Olympians.
 
The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has selected annual award winners in a variety of categories since 1958; it also selects Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month and each year's New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame class. Overall, 30 individuals and two teams will be honored for their achievements at the 2024-25 Allstate Sugar Bowl Sports Awards Banquet presented by LCMC Health on August 2.
 
Morrow produced a jam-packed résumé in two seasons as a star at DePaul University. The Chicago native had stayed in her hometown and earned National Freshman of the Year honors followed by another All-America season as a sophomore. She averaged 25.7 points and 12.2 rebounds as a sophomore while tallying double-doubles in 53 of 66 career games.
 
Then she set her sights higher. She transferred to Louisiana to play for the powerhouse LSU Tigers and legendary head coach Kim Mulkey for her final two collegiate seasons.
 
Instead of sitting back and letting past accolades do her talking, she focused even more and established herself as one of the hardest working and toughest players in the country – a potent combination when paired with her exceptional skills.
 
"I don't like to be denied, I don't like to be told no," Morrow said. "Might sound like being spoiled. But at the same time, I worked very hard on and off the floor, academically in the classroom, when it comes down to bettering myself in the weight room, body changes. I really work hard to accomplish the goals I want to."
 
Morrow finished the 2024-25 season as LSU's leading scorer (18.7 ppg) and the nation's leading rebounder (13.5 rpg). Her 485 rebounds were the fourth most in a season ever by an LSU player. She also led the nation with 30 double-doubles throughout the season, the second most ever by an LSU player. Morrow scored 20-plus points in 17 games and grabbed 15-plus rebounds in 14 games while tallying nine 20/15 games and four 20-rebound games, including two in which she scored 20 points.
 
Her exceptional senior season culminated with her being selected No. 7 overall in the WNBA Draft.
 
In two years at LSU, Morrow helped the Tigers reach two Elite Eights, winning 31 games both seasons. She scored 1,282 points and secured 854 rebounds across both seasons in Baton Rouge. The total rebounds are the 10th most in LSU history. She secured 52 double-doubles – the third most in program history – in 73 games at LSU. She was a two-time First Team All-SEC player.
 
"You wish you had an Aneesah every time you walked on a court every day, because you knew what you were getting from her and her effort," said Mulkey, who also won the Corbett Award as a collegiate player (1984 at Louisiana Tech). "It didn't matter how banged up she was, how hurt she felt. 'Neese only knows how to play, and that's hard…Give me the Aneesah Morrows of the world every day."
 
Morrow also won the Katrina McClain Award, which is presented annually to the best women's basketball power forward in college.
 
"There's nobody that outworks 'Neese. She's a great leader, a great person," LSU guard Mikaylah Williams said. "She's got a really good head on her shoulders. And it's about everything but her. She's willing to put all of our needs before her. She's willing to do whatever the team needs."
 
The 6-1 Morrow was dominant in the NCAA Tournament this year, tallying double-doubles in all three LSU wins, including a 30-point, 19-rebound effort in a Sweet Sixteen win over NC State.
 
"There's no substitute for what that kid has inside of her heart," Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said of Morrow. "You can't coach what she does. You either have that, or you don't."
 
Combining her seasons at DePaul and LSU, Morrow is one of two players in NCAA history with more than 100 career double-doubles. Her 1,714 career rebounds rank No. 3 in NCAA Division I history and she is one of just eight Division I players to have registered 2,500 career points and 1,500 career rebounds.
 
"Honestly, I'm just grateful for the opportunity," Morrow said. "A lot of people don't get the opportunity that I get and that I receive just to be able to come to LSU. I feel like they helped me not only mature on the basketball floor, but as a person."
 
The Sugar Bowl also conducted a fan vote for its annual awards and the Female Corbett Award winner of the fan vote was Leah Varisco, a star in cross country, track, basketball, and soccer at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. Varisco keyed four different Sacred Heart teams to at least sixth place finishes in the state this year as a junior, including helping the Cardinals to the state title game in basketball for the first time in school history.
 
Joining Morrow and Varisco as finalists for the Corbett Award were My-Anh Holmes (Willow Tennis) and Luci Schroeder (Xavier Soccer). Holmes, who is the New Orleans Athlete of the Year, dominated her competition in the LHSAA Division II state tennis championship bracket, dropping just three games in five matches as she blazed her way to her fourth straight state championship. Schroeder, a senior midfielder from Germany, was selected as the top women's soccer player in Louisiana for the second straight year after scoring 14 goals and 17 assists in 21 games to lead Xavier to the NAIA National Tournament.
 
Jimmy Collins Awards: Noah Confident, Brother Martin Wrestling; Brian Marelo, Hahnville
Outstanding Boys' Prep Coach of the Year, New Orleans: Hank Tierney, Archbishop Shaw Football
Outstanding Girls' Prep Coach of the Year, New Orleans: Courtney Ward, Sacred Heart Basketball
Outstanding Female Amateur Athlete, New Orleans: My-Anh Holmes, Willow Tennis
Outstanding Male Amateur Athlete, New Orleans: Kade Anderson, LSU Baseball
Outstanding Boys' Prep Team, New Orleans: Edna Karr Football
Outstanding Girls' Prep Team, New Orleans: Slidell Volleyball
Outstanding Collegiate Coach, Louisiana: Brad Neffendorf, LSU Shreveport Baseball
Eddie Robinson Award – Burzis Kanga, UNO Tennis
Corbett Award – Male: Kade Anderson, LSU Baseball
Corbett Award – Female: Aneesah Morrow, LSU Basketball

Women in Sport Scholarship Honorees:
Jenna Eaton (Riverdale High School)
Elizabeth Hamilton (Archbishop Chapelle High School)
Jaime Harper (Thomas Jefferson Academy)
Julia Jenkins (Covington High School)
Reagan Robinson (Slidell High School)
Kasia Rodriguez (Pope John Paul II High School)
 
New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025:
Shan Foster, Basketball, Bonnabel HS/Vanderbilt/NBA, 2001-13
Temeka Johnson, Basketball, Bonnabel HS/LSU/WNBA, 1997-2018
Joe McKnight, Football, John Curtis Christian School/USC/NFL, 2004-16
Andy Russo, Basketball, Fortier HS/USL/Brother Martin HS, 1956-78

The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 69th year in 2025.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade.