Allison Hightower

Classroom

Hightower has been a leader in the classroom since she arrived at LSU. She has maintained a 3.0 grade point average throughout her career. In 2009, she was one of two Lady Tigers who were named to the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll. In October 2006, Hightower was one of five student-athletes at the school who were recognized by the LSU Cox Communications Academic Center For Student-Athletes for outstanding classroom and community service work. Hightower is majoring in general studies at LSU with concentrations in communication studies, sports studies and African-American studies. She is on schedule to graduate this spring.

Character

Hightower’s leadership role stretches beyond the playing floor. She has always held herself to high standards and been a leader for the Lady Tigers in everything they do from the weight room to other activities. She was a team captain in 2008-09 and she was recently voted by the coaching staff as a team captain for the 2009-10 season. Said LSU head coach Van Chancellor, “She’s a leader on and off the floor and the face of our team.” Said LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey as quoted in the Baton Rouge Advocate, “In all of my 30 years of coaching men and women, she’s the hardest working player I have ever been around – male or female.” Hightower represents the women’s basketball team on the LSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Community

Hightower has been a fan favorite in the Baton Rouge community for some time. In the summer of 2009, she led a free basketball clinic at the Baton Rouge Recreational Department’s Sports Academy that taught children fundamentals of the game and then signed autographs. Since the spring of 2009, Hightower and the Lady Tigers have joined former LSU star and 2009 WNBA champion Temeka Johnson and her H.O.P.E. Foundation in speaking to schools around the Baton Rouge area about the importance of getting an education. The group also donated shoes to deserving children at Magnolia Woods Elementary School. This season, LSU and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System announced a collaboration between basketball and education. Hightower will be making several speaking appearances as part of the program. As quoted from a press release in July 2009, Hightower said, “We have so many people and kids who look up to us. When they see us out there doing positive things, hopefully that inspires them to do whatever they want to do in life. It is just a good feeling to give back to the community whether it is serving food or teaching the game of basketball.”

Competition

A 2010 National Player of the Year candidate, Hightower is on watch lists for the Wade Trophy and John Wooden Award.  She was chosen as a 2009 State Farm Honorable Mention All-American and 2009 first-team All-SEC performer after leading the Lady Tigers in six categories as a junior, including 14.9 points per game. She led all SEC guards in blocked shots and was the only guard in the league to rank in the top 11 in both blocks and steals en route to SEC All-Defensive Team honors. As a sophomore, she was chosen as the SEC Sixth Woman of the Year. In 2009, Hightower became the first player in school history to lead the Lady Tigers in points, assists, steals and blocks in a single season and the first since All-American Marie Ferdinand (1999) to lead LSU in points, assists and steals in a single season. She averaged 23.5 points and 4.0 assists in the NCAA Tournament to nearly lead LSU past eventual national championship game participant Louisville in the second round. Hightower ranked fifth in the SEC in points per game, fifth in field goal percentage and second in minutes played as a junior. She stands at 943 career points, just 57 shy of 1,000. Her 76 blocks for her career is an LSU record for guards.