Tuesday, February 08, 2022

Women’s Starting Five Fan Voting Presented by Dell Technologies to go Live on Friday, February 11

 

Springfield, Mass. — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today the 10 watch list candidates for the 2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. Named after the first player, male or female, named to an All-America Team in four straight college seasons, the annual award in its fifth year recognizes the top shooting guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in November, which has now been narrowed to just 10.

College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In late February, the watch list of 10 players for the 2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award will be narrowed to five. In March those finalists will be presented to Ms. Meyers Drysdale and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.

The winner of the 2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.

Previous winners of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award include Ashley Owusu, Maryland (2021), Aari McDonald, Arizona (2020), Asia Durr, Louisville (2019) and Victoria Vivians,Mississippi State (2018).

For more information on the 2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MeyersAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, February 11.

 

2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award Candidates*

Sonya Morris

DePaul University

Kierstan Bell

Florida Gulf Coast University

Charisma Osborne

University of California, Los Angeles

Christyn Williams

University of Connecticut

Kianna Smith

University of Louisville

Leigha Brown

University of Michigan

Taylor Mikesell

Ohio State University

Taylor Robertson

University of Oklahoma

Jordan Horston

University of Tennessee

Charlisse Leger-Walker

Washington State University

*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2021-22 season

 

About Ann Meyers Drysdale:

Ann Meyers Drysdale's career escalated women's basketball to a new level. She was the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full four-year athletic scholarship to UCLA. Her high-octane approach translated into wins and awards and she finished her impressive career at UCLA owning 12 of 13 school records including becoming the first player to record a quadruple double in UCLA history. A supremely talented all-around player with natural basketball ability and instincts, Meyers Drysdale was the first player, male or female, named to an All-America team in four straight seasons and was named Player of the Year during her senior year. While still at UCLA, she started on the first women's Olympic team in 1976. After an All-America career, she became the first player drafted into the Women's Basketball League, earning WBL MVP and making history by becoming the first female player to tryout with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers, with whom she signed a free agent contract. Meyers Drysdale pushed the envelope in women's basketball, bringing a feel and sense for the game that few players ever exhibited. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.  In 2007, she was the 1st American Women to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2012, Meyers Drysdale became one of the first annual naming honorees on the women’s side of the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) with the organization’s National Women’s Player of the Year. Since retiring from professional play, she has had a very successful career as an NBA and WNBA executive, as well as a color commentator for the NBA, WNBA and the Olympic Games in 1984, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. In 2005 she received the ASAMA Ronald Reagan Media Award and in 2019, she was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Pac-12 Hall of Honor.

 

About the WBCA:

For 40 years, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association has been the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.