Katrina McClain Award explained

Katrina McClain Award
Awarded For:The best women's college basketball power forward in the United States
Presenter:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame &
Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)
Country:United States
Year:2018
Holder:Kiki Iriafen, Stanford
Website:Katrina McClain Award

The Katrina McClain Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball power forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Katrina McClain-Pittman, a two-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year with two Olympic gold, one Olympic bronze, and three FIBA World Championships medals. McClain was the WBCA National Player of the Year in her senior season at Georgia.[1]

The Katrina McClain Award was first presented in 2018, when WBCA and the Naismith Hall, in collaboration with ESPN, incorporated the Nancy Lieberman Award, presented since 2000 to the top NCAA women's point guard, into a new set of awards known as the "Naismith Starting Five". All five awards are presented at the WBCA convention (except in 2020, when the convention was not held due to the COVID-19 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:[2]

Winner for each of the Starting Five awards is 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 Katrina McClain Award

Winners

SeasonPlayerSchoolClassRef.
2017–18Oregon
2018–19UConn[3]
2019–20 (2)Oregon[4]
2020–21bgcolor=#ffe6bd Baylor[5]
2021–22 (2)Baylor[6]
2022–23Villanova[7]
2023–24Stanford[8]

Winners by school

School Winners Years
2 2021, 2022
2 2018, 2020
1 2019
1 2023
1 2024

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, WBCA Announce Four New Women’s College Basketball Awards. www.hoophall.com. en. 2020-04-10.
  2. Web site: Naismith Starting 5 . Women's Basketball Coaches Association . April 9, 2019.
  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. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Reveals Winners of Men and Women's Naismith Starting Five Awards on ESPN's College GameDay . Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . April 4, 2023 . April 12, 2023.
  8. Web site: Iriafen, Brink Win Naismith Starting Five Awards . https://web.archive.org/web/20240524104013/https://pac-12.com/article/2024/04/06/iriafen-brink-win-naismith-starting-five-awards . dead . May 24, 2024 . 2024-05-27 . pac-12.com . en.