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23 March 2026  6 min read

WEABL: 2025/26 Regular Season Award Winners Announced

With MVP, All-Conference First Team, Most Improved Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, U17 Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards all up for grabs, players and coaches have the opportunity to wrap up impressive seasons with well-deserved accolades.

All six teams in each Conference were asked to vote on shortlisted players for each award, without being able to vote for their own players.

The following external voters were also involved in the process:

• Ian Cawthorne - Basketball England's PR & Communications Manager
• Kareem Lee - Basketball England's Academy Social Media Lead
• Dr Sam Messam - Basketball England's Talent Programme & Pathway Manager
• Krumesh Patel - Interim GB Women’s Head Coach and 2025 GB U18 Women’s Head Coach
• Caz Bullock - Writer and contributor for FocusHoops, WEABL & WNBL Commentator

Congratulations to all those chosen and don’t forget you can still attend this week's WEABL playoff final between City of London Academy - Southwark and Copleston High School at Essex Sports Arena.

Tickets to attend the final are free, but need to be obtained for capacity reasons. To secure your ticket, please head to the Basketball England shop.

Grab a ticket here

MVP

Moving up from All-Conference honours a year ago, Nottingham's Tiarna Chambers-Desmond is the North Conference's MVP for 2025/26.

With impressive marks across the season, totalling 20.4PPG, 9.6RPG, 2.9APG, 3.0SPG and 2.3BPG, her 28.7 efficiency per game (EPG) led all WEABL players from either conference.

With Nottingham going a perfect 9-0 to top the standings, Chambers-Desmond was some way ahead in the voting, and for obvious reasons given the season she's had.

In the South, City of London Academy - Southwark's Ayla Habbal has gone back-to-back, following up MVP honours in 2024/25 with another award here.

With no team able to lay a glove on the South winners, going a spotless 9-0 across the regular-season, Habbal remained a driving force for her side behind 13.1PPG, 5.1RPG and a WEABL-best 5.3APG.

The talented guard eventually came out on top across a well-contested vote, with team mates Eva-Grace Yebila and Adaora Dioramma both providing plenty of competition.

Coach of the Year

For the first time since 2019/20, Nottingham Academy Wildcats have a Coach of the Year winner as Siobhán Prior takes this year's award.

Kenrick Liburd was the recipient that season, and Prior has stepped up for the Wildcats this term as they went 9-0, and developing the likes of MVP Tiarna Chambers-Desmond plus DPOY Ophelia Larder-Lee, Mateya Georgieva and Lucy Upton.

The programme has gone from strength-to-strength in recent seasons to become top dogs in the North, with the Wildcats averaging an eye-catching 97.1PPG this season, conceding just 45.6PPG in reply as they passed last year's WEABL finalists Manchester.

With seven WEABL South Coach of the Year titles to his name already, it's no surprise to see CoLA's Jackson Gibbons make it to eight awards in 2025/26.

Despite his previous success, Gibbons keeps on driving his programme forward, securing a perfect 9-0 regular-season record alongside 67.7PPG on offence and a slender 43.4PPG allowed at the other end.

Gibbons' strength continues to be his focus on player development, and with three players (Habbal, Yebila and Dioramma) all leading the way in this season's MVP voting, and Debra Wilson-Osuide developing into a key defensive force, the CoLA man isn't slowing down any time soon.

All Conference First Team

MVP Chambers-Desmond takes up her spot in this year's All-Conference team by default, and she's joined by fellow Wildcat Ophelia Larder-Lee (18.6ppg, 4.6RPG, 4.1SPG) after her strong season for the North winners.

U17 standout Faith Deakin (24.3PPG, 7.8RPG, 4.2APG, 5.8SPG) was unstoppable at both ends of the court for MK5D in their second WEABL season, pushing the Milton Keynes programme into the playoffs as a result and earning recognition from voters across the Conference.

Manchester's Paige Jagger (17.4PPG, 6.6RPG, 2.3APG, 2.4SPG) helped the Mystics to second spot and a 7-2 record, and Charnwood's Grace Nzeakor (18.6PPG, 10.1RPG, 3.1SPG) rounds out the five after averaging a double-double across the campaign for the Riders.

MVP Habbal has plenty of familiar faces in this year's All-Conference team, with forwards Eva-Grace Yebila (13.2PPG, 10.8RPG, 1.6BPG) and Adaora Dioramma (12.1PPG, 11.3RPG) both earning their spots.

Habbal and Dioramma both return to the side from a year ago to boot, showcasing their continued high level of play.

The other two spots are taken by Copleston players, who finished as runners up behind CoLA at 7-2.

Dominant forward Holly Ensoll (15.1PPG, 14.9RPG, 4.4BPG) has shown her prowess in the paint all season long, with departing guard Maisie Keyes (16.5PPG, 7.4RPG, 4.4APG) signing off on a high before she heads stateside this summer.

Defensive Player of the Year

The North's DPOY award was a two-horse race, but ultimately Nottingham's Ophelia Larder-Lee won out ahead of Charnwood's Grace Nzeakor.

Allowing just 45.6PPG this season, Larder-Lee's Wildcats were in great defensive form, and the young guard's 4.1SPG and general defensive effort certainly pushed Nottingham forward.

After pulling down 9.9 defensive RPG and blocking a stunning 4.4 shots per contest, it's no surprise to see Copleston's Holly Ensoll take home the South's award.

4.4BPG is a new WEABL all-time high, beating the previous mark of 3.8BPG by Moulton College's Mica Denton back in 2017/18 and further enforcing how much of an impact Ensoll had across the current campaign.

Most Improved Player

With development a constant focus across the Academy landscape, the Most Improved Player award is always a sought-after one for players and programmes alike.

This year's awards went to Charnwood's Grace Nzeakor in the North and CoLA's Eva-Grace Yebila in the South.

Nzeakor appeared in just four games in 2024/25, improving that to nine in 2025/26, and increasing her PPG numbers from 5.5 to 18.6, and her rebounding from 3.0 to 10.1.

Her efficiency also rose significantly, from 5.3 to 18.6, as she become a key part of the Charnwood rotation.

Yebila was another enjoying a similar bump in production, playing an increased part for CoLA this season as a long-term injury struck fellow forward and last season's All-Conference First Team pick Chloe Vela.

That opportunity allowed Yebila to improve her PPG output from 6.4 to 13.2, her rebounding from 7.0 to 10.8, and her overall efficiency from 10.9 to 18.8.

U17 Player of the Year

Awarded to the best Year 12 players from across the league, this season's awards go to MK5D's Faith Deakin and Barking's Sharliyah Sutherland.

Given Deakin's selection to the All-Conference side and her general impact for playoff-bound MK5D, her win here is no surprise, and her 24.3PPG, 7.8RPG, 4.2APG, 5.8SPG stats are impressive for a player of any age.

Sutherland was a clear bright spot for Barking as they went 5-5, good for third in the South.

The young guard averaged 15.9PPG, 6.2RPG and 2.3SPG, creating a big role for herself in coach Milligan's rotation.

Both players can be proud of their efforts in 2025/26, and have plenty to build on going into next season.

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