Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Explained

Ann Meyers Drysdale Award
Awarded For:The best women's college basketball shooting guard in the United States
Presenter:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame &
Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)
Country:United States
Year:2018
Holder:JuJu Watkins, USC
Website:Ann Meyers Drysdale Award

The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball shooting guard in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale (née Meyers), the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full athletic scholarship to UCLA.

Creation and selection

The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award was first presented in 2018, when WBCA and the Naismith Hall, in collaboration with ESPN, incorporated the Nancy Lieberman Award, first presented in 2000 to the top Division I women's point guard, into a new set of awards known as the "Naismith Starting Five" that are presented at the WBCA convention (except in 2020, when the convention was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic) to players at each of the five traditional basketball positions. These awards parallel a previously existing set of men's basketball positional awards also presented by the Hall. In addition to the Lieberman Award, the other three new awards are:[1]

Winners for each of the Starting Five awards are determined by a selection committee consisting of Hall of Famers, WBCA coaching members, and media, and headed by the award's namesake. Fan voting through the Hall's website is also incorporated into the selection process.

Key

Awarded, in addition, a national Player of the Year award:
the Naismith College Player of the Year, Wade Trophy or the John R. Wooden Award
Player (X)Denotes the number of times the player has received the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award

Winners

SeasonPlayerSchoolClassRef.
2017–18Mississippi State
2018–19Louisville[2]
2019–20Arizona[3]
2020–21Maryland[4]
2021–22UConn[5]
2022–23South Carolina
2023–24USC

Winners by school

School Winners Years
1 2020
1 2019
1 2021
1 2018
1 2023
1 2022
1 2024

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Naismith Starting 5 . Women's Basketball Coaches Association . April 9, 2019.
  2. Web site: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, WBCA Name Winners of Five Women’s College Basketball Awards. www.hoophall.com. en. 2020-04-10.
  3. Web site: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, WBCA Name Winners of Five Women’s College Basketball Awards. www.hoophall.com. en. 2020-04-10.
  4. Basketball Hall of Fame Reveals Winners of Women's Naismith Starting Five Awards . Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . April 4, 2021 . April 5, 2021.
  5. Basketball Hall of Fame & Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Announce Winners of Women’s Naismith Starting Five Awards . Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . April 3, 2022 . April 4, 2022.