Cheryl Miller Award

Cheryl Miller Award
Awarded forthe best women's college basketball small forward in the United States
CountryUnited States
Presented byNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame &
Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)
First awarded2018
Currently held byMadison Booker, Texas
WebsiteCheryl Miller Award

The Cheryl Miller Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball small forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller. While at Riverside (CA) Polytechnic High School, Miller set a single game scoring record of 105 points in a game in 1982. She was a four-time All-America, a three-time Naismith Player of the Year and a Wade Trophy winner while accumulating 3,018 career points at USC from 1982 to 1986. Miller is a 1984 Olympic gold medalist and was named the best college basketball player, both male and female, in 1986 by Sports Illustrated.[1]

Origin

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The Cheryl Miller 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:

Selection

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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

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Ashley Joens of Iowa State is the only three-time winner (2021–2023)
* 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 Cheryl Miller Award

Winners

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Season Player School Class Ref.
2017–18 Gabby Williams UConn Senior
2018–19 Bridget Carleton Iowa State Senior [2]
2019–20 Satou Sabally Oregon Junior [2]
2020–21 Ashley Joens Iowa State Junior [3]
2021–22 Ashley Joens (2) Iowa State Senior [4]
2022–23 Ashley Joens (3) Iowa State Graduate [5]
2023–24 Madison Booker Texas Freshman

Winners by school

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School Winners Years
Iowa State 4 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Oregon 1 2020
Texas 1 2024
UConn 1 2018

See also

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  • Julius Erving Award – the counterpart to the Miller Award; given to the best men's NCAA small forward

References

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  1. ^ "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. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  2. ^ a b "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. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  3. ^ "Basketball Hall of Fame Reveals Winners of Women's Naismith Starting Five Awards" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Basketball Hall of Fame & Women's Basketball Coaches Association Announce Winners of Women's Naismith Starting Five Awards" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  5. ^ "ISU's Ashley Joens 3-Peats As Cheryl Miller Award Winner" (Press release). Big 12 Conference. April 1, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
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