Moriah Jefferson

Classroom

A member of the UConn Athletic Director’s Honor Roll during the fall 2014 semester, Jefferson has declared as an individualized major of youth in sport. The Glenn Heights, Texas, native contributed to the Huskies being honored with the American Athletic Conference Excellence Award for achieving the highest GPA of any women’s basketball team in the league.

Character

Moriah Jefferson has transformed herself into a leader on the basketball court, in the classroom and among the university community. Her dedication to her teammates and to her own self-improvement has propelled her to become the team’s principal verbal communicator and most active and hard-working player in games, practices and team workouts during three consecutive NCAA championship seasons. Her passion for being a positive example for young people has inspired her to be an active participant in youth-based community engagement and to customize her own degree program entitled “Youth in Sport.” Through the basketball accolades she has earned, the academic success she has achieved, and the service projects she has completed, Moriah Jefferson has proven to be an exceptional teammate, leader and role model.

Community

Jefferson and the team participated in many community service endeavors including helping volunteers at a local shelter stock donations on shelves during the holiday season and taking part in the Thanksgiving Food Drive, which benefited the Hockanum Valley Community Council. The team also volunteered at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp Christmas Party, at which they colored, played games and danced with the child campers who are terminally ill. The team visited the Immanuel House, which is a senior housing facility in the Hartford Community where they played games, shared stories and interacted with the residents. 

The Huskies participated in the Autism Walk in East Hartford, Conn., to raise awareness for autism and also visited Windham Middle School where they visited with high-achieving students to discuss the importance of nutrition and physical activity. Additionally, the team visited the CT Children’s Medical Center where they spent time with youth patients in the Hematology/Oncology ward, playing games and doing creative activities.

Competition

Jefferson is second on the team in scoring and leads the squad in assists.  The American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year leads the Huskies in steals and has been selected as a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award for the third-straight season while also earning mention as a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award. She is a finalist for the Wooden Award, a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy and became only the second Husky all-time to post at least 600 career assists and register 300 career steals. A first-team All-America selection by the WBCA and the USBWA in 2014-15, Jefferson enters her senior year in 14th place on UConn’s all-time assists list with 455 career helpers. The 2015 Nancy Lieberman Award winner is also the third Husky in school history to dish-out 100 steals in two separate seasons. A 2014-15 second-team AP All-America pick, Jefferson was ranked fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio last season and boasts a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.57-1. The 2014-15 American Athletic Conference Most Improved Player, Jefferson played in all 118 of UConn’s games over the last three years and was shooting a solid 41.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in her career, including a career-best 49.6 percent in 2014-15. Jefferson, a first-team 2014-15 American Athletic Conference selection, has led the Huskies to national championships in each of her three years and was honored as an All-NCAA Tournament Team pick last season.