Tuesday, October 17, 2023

- Women’s Starting Five Fan Voting, Presented by Dell Technologies, Starts on Friday, October 20 - 

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced today the 20 watch-list candidates for the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. Named after the first player, male or female, selected to an All-America Team in four straight college seasons, the annual award in its seventh 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.

“Each of these players has the same qualities and skills Ann Meyers Drysdale mastered throughout her career,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. “Ann’s impact on the game extends well past her playing career, and we are honored to work alongside her to evaluate our watch list candidates.”

2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Candidates*
Abbey Hsu Columbia Ashley Owusu Penn State
Ta'Niya Latson Florida State Sammie Puisis South Florida
Brynna Maxwell Gonzaga Hannah Jump Stanford
Sara Scalia Indiana Shaylee Gonzales Texas
Gabby Gregory Kansas State Quinesha Lockett Toledo
Hailey Van Lith LSU Charisma Osborne UCLA
Laila Phelia Michigan Paige Bueckers UConn
Jaz Shelley Nebraska Gianna Kneepkens Utah
Sonia Citron Notre Dame Charlisse Leger-Walker Washington State
Celeste Taylor Ohio State JJ Quinerly West Virginia
*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2023-24 season 

 

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, October 20. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Meyers Drysdale and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee, where a winner will be selected.

The winner of the 2024 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 Award (Point Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), Katrina

McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.

Previous winners of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award are Zia Cooke, South Carolina (2023), Christyn Williams, UConn (2022), Ashley Owusu, Maryland (2021), Aari McDonald, Arizona (2020), Asia Durr, Louisville (2019) and Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State (2018).

For more information on the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MeyersAward on Twitter and Instagram.

 
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 try out 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 first American woman to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2012, Meyers Drysdale became one of the first annual 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
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. 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 those 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. For more information, visit us online: WBCA.org, follow @wbca1981 or call 1-770-279-8027.
 
About the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at every level – men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors, both domestically and internationally. The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 400 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo "Court of Dreams." Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game’s elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and events, visit hoophall.com, follow @hoophall or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.