WNBL Breakout Player of the Year Award explained

The WNBL Breakout Player of the Year (formerly the WNBL Youth Player of the Year Award) is an annual Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) award given since the 1988 WNBL season. The award is named the Betty Watson Breakout Player of the Year Award.^{[1] [2]}

The award underwent a makeover for the 2019–20 season with new criteria seeing Australian players 23 years old or under eligible for Youth Player of the Year, replacing the long-standing Rookie of the Year.^[3] In 2022–23, the award was again redefined, to acknowledge any breakout player with an improved overall performance each season.^[4]

Winners

	Denotes player inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame
	Denotes player who is still active
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player had won at that time
Team (X)	Denotes the number of times a player from this team had won at that time

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team
1988	Lucille Hamilton			Australian Institute of Sport
1989	Renae Fegent			Australian Institute of Sport (2)
1990	Trisha Fallon			Australian Institute of Sport (3)
1991	Michelle Brogan			Noarlunga Tigers
1992				Melbourne Tigers
1993	Allison Cook (2)			Melbourne Tigers (2)
1994	Maryanne Difrancesco			Melbourne Tigers (3)
1995	Chika Emeagi			Australian Institute of Sport (4)
1996	Jessica Bibby	Guard
1997		Forward/center		Australian Institute of Sport (5)
1998	Andrea Cartledge			Melbourne Tigers (4)
1998–99	Caitlin Ryan			Dandenong Rangers (2)
1999–00		Center		Australian Institute of Sport (6)
		Forward		Australian Institute of Sport (7)
		Forward		Dandenong Rangers (3)
				Australian Institute of Sport (8)
				Australian Institute of Sport (9)
	Renae Camino			Australian Institute of Sport (10)
	Abby Bishop	Forward/center		Australian Institute of Sport (11)
		Forward/center		Australian Institute of Sport (12)
	Nicole Hunt			Australian Institute of Sport (13)
				Logan Thunder
				Australian Institute of Sport (14)
		Forward/center		Logan Thunder (2)
	Carley Mijović	Forward		Australian Institute of Sport (15)
				Adelaide Lightning (2)
2014–15	Lauren Scherf			Dandenong Rangers (4)
		Forward		Adelaide Lightning (3)
		Forward
				Melbourne Boomers (2)
	Ezi Magbegor (2)	Forward		Melbourne Boomers (3)
				Townsville Fire (2)
	Ezi Magbegor (3)	Forward		Melbourne Boomers (4)
2022–23		Guard		Adelaide Lightning (4)
2023–24		Guard		Canberra Capitals (2)

Notes and References

1. Australian Basketball Hall of Fame. Betty Watson OAM. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
2. Basketball Australia (14 July 2007). Francis named Rookie of the Year. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
3. Web site: WNBL NAMES END OF SEASON AWARDS AND WNBL ALL-STAR FIRST & SECOND TEAMS. wnbl.basketball.
4. Web site: CYGNETT WNBL ANNOUNCE CANDIDATES FOR 2022/23 AWARDS. wnbl.basketball.