2024 USBWA College Basketball Awards Program

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THE MISSOURI ATHLETIC CLUB A TRADITION SINCE 1903

For more than a century, the Missouri Athletic Club has built a tradition of excellence unmatched by any city club in the United States. For the MAC’s prestigious membership, the Club has become a way of life, offering the finest in athletic facilities, plus gourmet dining and elegant guest accommodations.

When the Club first opened in September 1903, just months before the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904, the athletic tradition of the MAC was quickly established. Club members officiated the Olympic games held in conjunction with the World’s Fair, and a full team of athletes representing the MAC also competed. Other events helped shape the early athletic involvement of the MAC, including monthly amateur boxing matches at the Club and the debut of water polo in St. Louis. Club athletes and teams excelled in local and national Amateur Athletic Union competitions.

The MAC’s proud history of celebrating athletic excellence was enhanced in 1970 when MAC member Jack Buck created the Sports Personality of the Year Banquet to honor the top local sports figure. Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Joe Torre, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Brett Hull, Tony LaRussa, Ozzie Smith, Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner and Albert Pujols are among the sports legends who have come to the MAC to receive the prestigious award. In 1986, the Club took another major step in enhancing its athletic reputation by creating the MAC Collegiate Soccer Player of the Year Award.

The MAC celebrates a proud past, but always has an eye on the future. In 1995, the MAC purchased the former Town and Country Racquet Club in suburban West St. Louis county, becoming one of the first private clubs in the country to offer its members two locations.

BELOW (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT):

The Missouri Athletic Club is recognized as a Platinum Club of America, a distinction that puts the MAC in the top 5% of private clubs in America. In May of 2007, the MAC was again recognized for its prestige and history when the Downtown Clubhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, the MAC remains the premier athletic, social and dining club in St. Louis. The MAC way of life is a proud one. As Club members continue that heritage, they ensure the MAC remains a vital institution well into the future.

1903 MENS WINTER BASKETBALL TEAM

JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE; 1904 OLYMPICS; BASKETBALL LEAGUES AT THE MAC.

Tom Ackerman

USBWA College Basketball Awards Master of Ceremonies

Tom Ackerman is Sports Director at KMOX, overseeing a department that serves as the flagship station for the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues. He is also the lead sports anchor on KMOX’s “Total Information A.M.” and a host on the Cardinals Radio Network.

In 1997, KMOX Radio hired Ackerman to work as a host, play-by-play announcer, anchor and reporter. He’s interviewed the biggest names in sports, covering Super Bowls, World Series, All-Star Games and Final Fours. He’s traveled throughout the NFL, launching his career in 1999 with his extensive coverage of the Rams’ Super Bowl title.

For the past decade, Ackerman has called college basketball play-by-play for the University of Missouri, the Missouri Valley Conference and various national rivalry games, including Syracuse-Georgetown, Kansas-Kansas State and North Carolina-N.C. State. He’s also handled play-by-play duties for the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

In addition to the Jack Buck Awards, Ackerman emcees dozens of area events each year. A member of the “Red Ribbon Panel” that votes on the Cardinals Hall of Fame, Ackerman is also involved in the production of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Dinner, the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame induction and the Musial Awards. Ackerman has performed as a narrator for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and a public address announcer at the Edward Jones Dome.

Active in the community, Ackerman has a passion for helping local charities, volunteering for countless organizations each year. In 2013, Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club honored Ackerman for his role in raising funds to improve sports facilities for children in the inner city.

Ackerman is a past recipient of the Riverfront Times’ “Best Reporter” (Radio/TV) award and has been recognized and featured in the St. Louis Business Journal.

Ackerman began his broadcasting career calling play-by-play for Indiana University basketball, football, and baseball for WIUS-AM in Bloomington (1993-1997). A St. Louis native, Tom is a graduate of Indiana University and St. Louis Country Day School.

He and his wife, Angie, live in St. Louis with their daughters, Erika and Audrey.

Michelle Smallmon Q&A Moderator

Michelle Smallmon is one of the most soughtafter radio hosts in sports media. Formerly a sports talk host at 101 ESPN in St. Louis, the Belleville, IL native was the first woman onair at the radio station and the first to have her name on a show, Karraker & Smallmon. Two years ago, Smallmon headed to New York to host overnight SportsCenter updates on ESPN Radio.

Smallmon graduated from the University of Illinois with a broadcast journalism degree, beginning her career at KSDK where she was mentored by sportscasters Frank Cusumano and Rene Knott. She then moved on to 101 ESPN for the first time, where she worked as a producer and sportscaster on The Fast Lane. Smallmon briefly worked at ESPN headquarters in Connecticut before returning to St. Louis. In 2020, she began co-hosting Karraker & Smallmon alongside Randy Karraker. Fans of the show praised Smallmon for her work, giving a voice to women in the sports world.

Michelle is the co-host of Unsportsmanlike on ESPN with Evan Cohen and Chris Canty. While her work in New York will no doubt propel her career even further, Smallmon is proud to call St. Louis her home.

USBWA COACH OF THE YEAR

Dawn Staley

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCK WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

U.S. BASKETBALL WRITERS ASSOCIATION

About the USBWA

The 2023-24 season is the 68th year for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, founded in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. The primary goal of the USBWA has remained constant since its inception: to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball.

The USBWA annually selects a national player, coach and freshman of the year in college basketball and All-America teams for both men and women. The men’s player of the year award is named in honor of former Cincinnati and NBA legend Oscar Robertson, who was the first recipient of the USBWA award in 1959. The women’s award is named for UCLA legend Ann Meyers Drysdale.

The USBWA’s men’s coach of the year award is named for the legendary college and Olympic coaching great Henry Iba while the freshman of the year awards honors the late Oklahoma All-American Wayman Tisdale and Tennessee great Tamika Catchings.

The USBWA awards scholarships to students pursuing careers in sports journalism and to the sons or daughters of current members. Past and present members are also inducted each year into the USBWA Hall of Fame, honoring those who have made significant contributions to the USBWA and to the sports journalism profession.

In addition, the USBWA presents Most Courageous Awards in honor of Perry Wallace and Pat Summitt to those in college basketball who demonstrate extraordinary courage. The USBWA also honors individuals in college basketball with the Katha Quinn Award for men and the Mary Jo Haverbeck Award for women for service to the media or for the inspiration they provide to those in the sports journalism profession.

MAC and USBWA Partner to Host College Basketball Awards

In 2018, when the USBWA was searching for a permanent home for the presentation of its college basketball awards, the Missouri Athletic Club was at the top of the list. The MAC previously put on a successful USBWA awards banquet in 2005 when St. Louis hosted the Final Four. The MAC’s tradition of celebrating athletic excellence for more than a century coupled with its history of working with USBWA made the Club a natural fit. Also, St. Louis’ location in the center of the country has made it a convenient gathering spot for the best in college basketball.

In just a few years, coaching greats and future NBA and WNBA players have gathered at the MAC for this celebration of college basketball. Trae Young, Tony Bennett, Jalen Brunson, Rick Barnes, Zion Williamson, Megan Gustafson, Aliyah Boston, Oscar Tshiebwe, and Jabari Smith are just some of the big names to be recognized at the banquet. The USBWA and MAC have quickly established a premier annual showcase event for the best in college basketball that will continue to grow in the future.

Special Guest Roy Williams

Hall of Fame Coach Led UNC to Three National Championships

Williams won more than 900 games

Roy Williams retired on April 1, 2021, with the third-most wins by a Division I head coach and the sixth-highest winning percentage in college basketball history.

“Roy Williams is and always will be a Carolina basketball legend,” Michael Jordan said in a statement following the announcement of Williams’ retirement. “His great success on the court is truly matched by the impact he had on the lives of the players he coached – including me. I’m proud of the way he carried on the tradition of Coach Smith’s program, always putting his players first.”

Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, Williams was a college head coach for 33 seasons at two of the

three winningest programs in the sport’s history. He won 418 games in 15 seasons at Kansas from 1988-2003 and 485 games in 18 seasons at UNC, his alma mater, from 2003-21. He is the second-winningest coach all-time at Carolina and is third at KU. He is the only coach in college basketball history to win 400 games at two schools.

ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News and Fox Sports named Williams the Coach of the Decade for 2000-09, a 10-year span during which he won 33 NCAA Tournament games, including two national titles among five Final Four appearances at KU and Carolina.

He reached 900 wins in fewer games and fewer seasons than any other coach in history. He finished his career with a

903-264 record. The 903 wins rank third behind only Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim and his winning percentage of .774 is sixth all-time, third highest in the last 45 seasons and the highest in his 33 seasons among Power 5 conference coaches.

Williams grew up in the Biltmore neighborhood in Asheville. He played on Carolina’s freshman team in 196869, earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1972 and a master’s degree in teaching in 1973. After five seasons as the head coach at Owen High School in Black Mountain, N.C., Williams joined Dean Smith’s UNC staff, where he served as an assistant coach from 1978-88.

Williams led UNC to NCAA championships as a head coach in 2005, 2009 and 2017 and was an assistant when the Tar Heels won the title in 1982. He is the only head coach to win three national championships at his alma mater and one of six – with John Wooden, Krzyzewski, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight and Jim Calhoun – to win at least three titles.

Williams is second all-time in college basketball in 30-win seasons (12) and fourth in 20-win seasons (29), has the most wins over No. 1-ranked teams in the AP poll (8) and averaged more wins per season (27.4) than any coach with 800 or more wins. His teams won 18 regular-season conference championships, tied for the fifth most all-time.

He won the Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award in 1990 and 2006. His teams were ranked in 84.4 percent of the AP polls, including 61.5 percent in the top 10 and 29 weeks at No. 1. His teams earned a No. 1 ranking in 13 seasons and in 18 years were ranked at least second in the nation.

His teams defined success in NCAA Tournament play, where he retired second in wins (79), games (106) and No. 1 seeds (13); third in appearances (30), winning percentage (.745), Final Four wins (9) and championship game appearances (6); and fourth in titles (3) and Final Fours (9). Over his last 20 years, Williams’ teams won 54 NCAA Tournament games, more than any other coach in the nation. Carolina’s 45 NCAA Tournament wins in the Williams era were more than any other school in those 18 seasons. Carolina was a No. 1 seed in 2016, 2017 and 2019 and a No. 2 in 2018, the best four-year stretch of seeding in school history. His teams went 29-1 in the first round, 19-10 in the second, 13-6 in the Sweet 16, 9-4 in the Elite 8, 6-3 in the national semifinals and 3-3 in the championship game.

The Williams Record

F Overall: 903-264, 33 seasons (.774)

F Record at Carolina:485-163, 18 seasons (.748)

F NCAA Championships (3): 2005, 2009, 2017 at Carolina

F Final Fours (9): 1991, 1993, 2002, 2003 at Kansas; 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017 at Carolina

F NCAA Tournament: 79-27 (.745)

F NCAA Finals: 3-3

F National Championship Games (6): 1991, 2003 at Kansas; 2005, 2009, 2016, 2017 at Carolina

F National Semifinals: 6-3

F National Semifinals at Carolina: 4-1

F NCAA Elite 8s (13): 1991, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2003 at Kansas; 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 at Carolina

F NCAA Elite 8: 9-4 (5-3 at Carolina)

F NCAA Sweet 16s (19): 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2003 at Kansas; 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 at Carolina

F NCAA Sweet 16: 13-6 (8-2 at Carolina)

F NCAA 2nd Round: 19-10 (10-5 at Carolina)

F NCAA 1st Round: 29-1 (15-1 at Carolina)

F Led Carolina to three NCAA championships (2005, 2009, 2017)

F Third to take teams to the NCAA Tournament at least 30 times

F Consensus National Coach of the Decade (2000-09)

F Second in NCAA Tournament wins (79), second in No. 1 seeds (13), second in games (105), third in NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.745) and tied for fourth in NCAA championships

F Second in NCAA history in 30-win seasons (12) and tied for fourth in 20-win seasons (29)

F Tied for fifth all-time with 18 regular-season conference championships

F 32 NBA first-round draft picks (22 at Carolina, 10 at Kansas)

F 52 former players in the NBA

F Four National Players of the Year, six ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year, 10 consensus first-team All-Americas, 17 first-team All-Americas and three Bob Cousy Award winners

F 46 academic all-conference selections

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Wayman Tisdale AWARD

The USBWA has chosen a national freshman of the year since the 1988-89 season. In 2017-18, the award was named in Wayman Tisdale’s honor. The late Wayman Tisdale was a threetime USBWA All-American at the University of Oklahoma. Following a stint on the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team, Tisdale played 12 seasons in the NBA before retiring in 1997 to focus on a blossoming jazz music career. In March 2007, he was diagnosed with cancer and, following a courageous and difficult battle that included the amputation of his right leg in 2008, Tisdale passed away in May 2009.

PAST wayman tisdale AWARD winners

2023 Brandon Miller, Alabama

2022 Jabari Smith, Auburn

2021 Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State

2020 Vernon Carey Jr., Duke

2019 Zion Williamson, Duke

2018 Trae Young, Oklahoma

2017 Lonzo Ball, UCLA

2016 Ben Simmons, LSU

2015 Jahlil Okafor, Duke

2014 Jabari Parker, Duke

2013 Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State

2012 Anthony Davis, Kentucky

2011 Jared Sullinger, Ohio State

2010 John Wall, Kentucky

2009 Tyreke Evans, Memphis

2008 Michael Beasley, Kansas State

2007 Kevin Durant, Texas

2006 Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina

2005 Marvin Williams, North Carolina

2004 Luol Deng, Duke

2003 Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse

2002 T.J. Ford, Texas

2001 Eddie Griffin, Seton Hall

2000 Jason Gardner, Arizona

1999 Quentin Richardson, DePaul

1998 Larry Hughes, Saint Louis

None selected

None selected

None selected

Joe Smith, Maryland

Jason Kidd, California

Chris Webber, Michigan

1991 Rodney Rogers, Wake Forest

1990 Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech

1989 Chris Jackson, LSU

REED SHEPPARD

Freshman of the Year

The UK Sharp-Shooter is the Third Wildcat to Win the Award

Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard, one of the country’s top three-point shooters, the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Year and a member of its all-conference second team, is the 2023-24 Wayman Tisdale Award as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s National Freshman Player of the Year.

Sheppard is Kentucky’s third Wayman Tisdale Award winner, following Anthony Davis (2011-12 season) and John Wall (200910, prior to the Tisdale naming when the award was the National Freshman Player of the Year), and the third consecutive player from the SEC to win the award following Jabari Smith of Auburn (2021-22) and Alabama’s Brandon Miller last season. The SEC has now had seven winners since Chris Jackson of LSU won the first one 33 seasons ago.

The 6-3 guard from London, Ky., was the only player in the country who amassed at least 75 steals, dished out at least 140 assists and made at least 70 3-pointers through March 9. From KenPom. com, Sheppard’s 3-point percentage of 52.6 percent led the country, his true-shooting percentage (70.4 percent) was fourth and his effective field-goal percentage (68.2 percent) ranked seventh.

Sheppard grabbed national notice in Kentucky’s come-from-behind win at Mississippi State on Feb. 27, pouring in a career-high 32 points with five boards, seven assists, two blocks and two steals. He scored 23 points after halftime and had 11 in the final 93 seconds. It was the only game in the NCAA this season in which a player had 30 or more points, seven-plus assists, five-plus rebounds, two-plus blocks and two-plus steals, and one of only 11 such games going back to 1996-97.

He followed that two weeks later with a 27-point, six-rebound, five-assist showing in the Wildcats’ 85-81 upset at No. 4 Tennessee to close the regular season, sinking a career-high seven treys. Sheppard is the first Kentucky player in school history to have three games with at least 25 points, at least five boards and at least five assists in a single season.

Sheppard also led the Wildcats in assists on the season. Defensively, he has rankled opponents with his 82 steals, the secondhighest total in program history. Sheppard became the first player in UK history to register five steals in three-consecutive games, collecting five thefts against Ole Miss (2/13), Auburn (2/17) and LSU (2/21).

Tamika Catchings AWARD

The USBWA has been presenting the women’s freshman of the year since 1998. In 2019, the award was named after Tamika Catchings, the 1998 recipient of the award. During that 1997-98 season, she averaged 18.2 points per game to lead the Tennessee Lady Volunteers to a national championship in a 39-0 season.

During her collegiate career, Catchings set program records for most points with 711, including a 35-point game against DePaul. She went on to become a three-time USBWA AllAmerican and the association’s National Player of the Year in the 1999-2000 season as she finished her career at Tennessee with 2,133 career points and 1,004 career rebounds. In her four seasons playing for the legendary Pat Summitt, the Lady Vols won four SEC titles and compiled a 134-10 record, including a 54-2 mark in conference play. She was a three-time first-team AllSEC selection. Catchings played for the United States on Olympic gold-medal winning teams in 2004, ‘08, ‘12 and ‘16.

PAST TAMIKA CATCHINGS AWARD winners

2023 Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State

2022 Aneesah Morrow, DePaul

2021 Paige Bueckers, UConn; Caitlin Clark, Iowa

2020 Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

2019 Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

2018 Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M

2017 Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon

2016 Kristine Anigwe, California

2015 Kelsey Mitchell, Ohio State

2014 Diamond DeShields, North Carolina

2013 Jewell Loyd, Notre Dame

2012 Elizabeth Williams, Duke

2011 Odyssey Sims, Baylor

2010 Brittney Griner, Baylor

2009 Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee

2008 Maya Moore, UConn

2007 Tina Charles, UConn

2006 Courtney Paris, Oklahoma

2005 Tasha Humphrey, Georgia; Candice Wiggins, Stanford

2004 Tiffany Jackson, Texas

2003 Seimone Augustus, LSU

2002 Jacqueline Batteast, Notre Dame

2001 Alana Beard, Duke

2000 LaToya Thomas, Mississippi State

1999 Linda Froehlich, UNLV

1998 Tamika Catchings, Tennessee

1997 Shea Ralph, UConn

1996 Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee

1995 Korie Hlede, Duquesne

1994 Leslie Johnson, Purdue

1993 Katie Smith, Ohio State

1992 Niesa Johnson, Alabama

Freshman of the Year

The USC Guard Was Second in the Nation in Scoring JuJU Watkins

After leading USC to its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1986, JuJu Watkins was named the winner of the Tamika Catchings Award. Coming to USC as one of the nation’s top recruits, the Los Angeles product did not disappoint. The 6-2 first-year guard set a school record – for women and men – with 13 games of 30-ormore points and was the USBWA’s National Freshman Player of the Week three times this season.

Watkins entered NCAA Tournament play as the nation’s secondleading scorer at 27.0 points per game, which included a 51-point outing in an upset at Stanford, the highest-scoring individual game in the nation this season. Her 42 points vs. Colorado on Feb. 23 is the most points ever scored by a USC player (male or female) at Galen Center, the home of the Trojans.

Watkins, who led the Trojans in scoring in 26 of their 31 games this season, consistently fills up the box score as she is also the team’s second leading rebounder with 7.2 to go with 2.4 steals and

1.5 blocks per game. She is just one of five Pac-12 players to ever accumulate at least 750 points, 150 rebounds and 50 steals in a season.

As USC beat two top 10 foes in No. 7 UCLA and No. 2 Stanford along the way to winning the Pac-12 Tournament, Watkins was named to the All-Tournament Team. The Women of Troy’s 26 wins are the most since the 1993-94 season. Watkins is the first player from USC to win the Tamika Catchings Award.

“There are freshmen who have won the Tamika Catchings Award simply by being better than the rest of the season’s rookies. Then there is the rare crowning honor of being an impact freshman and that’s JuJu,” said Mel Greenberg, USBWA Vice President for Women. “From opening night, when her performance enabled the Trojans to stun Ohio State and quickly become a Top 10 program, she has been waking up the echoes of the Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie eras while becoming a must-see Hollywood sports talent.”

HENRY IBA AWARD

For more than four decades, Henry P. “Han” Iba reigned as the “Iron Duke of Defense” in college basketball, including 36 years at Oklahoma State University (formerly Oklahoma A&M). He led them to the NCAA championship in 1945 and ‘46, and he directed the U.S. Olympic team to two gold medals in 1964 and ‘68 and one silver medal in ‘72.

His A&M/OSU teams won 655 games and lost 316 for a .675 percentage. He also coached A&M baseball until 1941 and he assumed the role of athletic director less than a year after arriving on campus. His teams were know for tough man-to-man defense and the “Iba deep freeze” in the final minutes of close games.

PAST henry iba AWARD winners

2023 Shaka Smart, Marquette

2022 Tommy Lloyd, Arizona

2021 Juwan Howard, Michigan

2020 Anthony Grant, Dayton

2019 Rick Barnes, Tennessee

2018 Tony Bennett, Virginia

2017 Mark Few, Gonzaga

2016 Chris Mack, Xavier

2015 Tony Bennett, Virginia

2014 Gregg Marshall, Wichita State

2013 Jim Larrañaga, Miami (Fla.)

2012 Frank Haith, Missouri

2011 Mike Brey, Notre Dame

2010 Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

2009 Bill Self, Kansas

2008 Keno Davis, Drake

2007 Tony Bennett, Washington State

2006 Roy Williams, North Carolina

2005 Bruce Weber, Illinois

2004 Phil Martelli, St. Joseph’s

2003 Tubby Smith, Kentucky

2002 Ben Howland, Pittsburgh

2001 Al Skinner, Boston College

2000 Larry Eustacy, Iowa State

1999 Cliff Ellis, Auburn

1998 Tom Izzo, Michigan State

1997 Clem Haskins, Minnesota

1996 Gene Keady, Purdue

1995 Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma

1994 Charlie Spoonhour, Saint Louis

Eddie Fogler, Vanderbilt

Perry Clark, Tulane

Ayers, Ohio State

Williams, Kansas

Knight, Indiana

Chaney, Temple

Chaney,

Versace,

Smith, North Carolina

Coach of the Year

Houston Cougars Coach Wins His Second Iba Award kelvin Sampson

University of Houston Men’s Basketball Head Coach Kelvin Sampson is the 2023-24 recipient of the Henry Iba Award for the second time during his career after first earning the award following the 1994-95 season in his first year at Oklahoma.

He is the 10th repeat winner in the 66-year history of the award joining John Wooden, Tony Bennett, Fred Taylor, Bob Knight, Ray Meyer, Lou Carnesecca, Gene Keady, John Chaney, and Roy Williams. Sampson is also the second Houston coach to collect the honor after Hall of Fame Coach Guy V. Lewis following the 1967-68 season.

“This award has special meaning for me because of the impact of Coach Iba in the state of Oklahoma. Playing Oklahoma State in the gym with his name on it, I know the impact he had on the history of basketball in this country,” Sampson said. “This is a great honor, and I accept it on behalf of our staff, our players, who poured their hearts and souls into this season, and our entire program.”

Now in his 35th season overall and his 10th season at Houston,

Sampson has placed the Cougars among the nation’s elite during his tenure. His Cougars earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament South Region, the second straight season Houston earned a region’s top seed.

In 2023-24, Sampson led the Cougars to a 30-4 overall record entering the NCAA Tournament and won the Big 12 regular-season championship by two games. Houston led the nation in scoring defense, turnover margin, field goal percentage defense, and ranked among the country’s Top 10 in turnovers per game, scoring margin and steals per game. Under Sampson’s leadership, Houston has been ranked for a school-record 86 consecutive weeks, including each of the last 41 weeks in the Top 10, another best for the program.

For his team’s impressive efforts in 2023-24, Sampson recently was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year. This marked the third straight season in which Sampson was named the Conference Coach of the Year and the fifth time in the last seven years.

COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

The USBWA has presented the Coach of the Year in Women’s Basketball since 1990. Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer was the inaugural winner of the award and the most recent winner in 2021. Other coaches to win the award multiple times are Kim Mulkey (3), Muffet McGraw (3) and Geno Auriemma (6).

PAST women’s coach of the year winners

2023 Dawn Staley, South Carolina

2022 Dawn Staley, South Carolina

2021 Tara VanDerveer, Stanford

2020 Dawn Staley, South Carolina

2019 Kim Mulkey, Baylor

2018 Vic Schaefer, Mississippi State

2017 Geno Auriemma, UConn

2016 Geno Auriemma, UConn

2015 Courtney Banghart, Princeton

2014 Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame

2013 Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame

2012 Kim Mulkey, Baylor

2011 Kim Mulkey, Baylor

2010 Connie Yori, Nebraska

2009 Geno Auriemma, UConn

2008 Geno Auriemma, UConn

2007 Gail Goestenkors, Duke

2006 Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina 2005 Pokey Chatman, LSU 2004 Joe Curl, Houston 2003 Geno Auriemma, UConn 2002 Brenda Frese, Minnesota

Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame

Andy Landers, Georgia

Carolyn Peck, Purdue 1998 Pat Summitt, Tennessee

1997 Wendy Larry, Old Dominion

1996 Leon Barmore, Louisiana Tech

1995 Geno Auriemma, UConn

1994 Ceal Barry, Colorado

1993 Jim Foster, Vanderbilt

1992 Chris Weller, Maryland 1991 Debbie Ryan, Virginia

1990 Tara VanDerveer, Stanford

Dawn Staley

Coach of the Year

South Carolina Coach Claims Award for Third Consecutive

South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley earned National Coach of the Year honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Winner of the award in four of the last five seasons, Staley becomes the first coach in the award’s history to capture the honor in three consecutive seasons and her four awards are the second most all-time.

After losing all five starters off a Final Four team a year ago, Staley entered the season with just one player who had ever started a game as a Gamecock. Staley’s Gamecocks were even better this year, posting an undefeated 38-0 record on their way to the national championship. It marked the third time Staley has led South Carolina to the national championship.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the Gamecocks’ seven wins over ranked opponents were the second-most in the country and their 17 wins over NET top-50 teams led the nation.

The Gamecocks swept the SEC Regular-Season and Tournament titles for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons, posting a perfect 16-0 SEC regular-season record for the third time in program history. Staley drew SEC Coach of the Year honors from her colleagues for the seventh time this season, leaving her just

Season

one behind legendary Pat Summitt for the most selections in league history.

“Having seen Dawn through most of her basketball career, the amazing thing is once she dropped her reluctance to coaching and accepted the Temple job is how fast the Owls turned around in her native Philadelphia,” said Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for Women. “Perhaps more remarkably, though, is how quickly South Carolina under Staley has rocketed into a powerhouse program at supersonic speed.”

South Carolina’s balanced attack led by 6-7 center Kamilla Cardoso features seven players averaging at least 8.1 points per game. Cardoso, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, averages 14.0 points per game on a team that is fourth in the nation averaging 86.1 points per game. South Carolina also held its opponents to 32 percent shooting from the field, the best mark in the country.

Staley, a two-time first-team USBWA All-American player at Virginia, is in her 24th season as a head coach and her 16th at South Carolina. The 38 wins this season give her six 30-win seasons with a chance to break the South Carolina school single-season record of 36, set just a year ago.

ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE AWARD

The USBWA has named a National Women’s Player of the Year since the 1987-88 season. In 2012, the award was named after Ann Meyers Drysdale, the four-time AllAmerican at UCLA from 1975-78. She was one of the first women to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. Her career escalated women’s basketball to a new level. Meyers was the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full athletic scholarship to UCLA. Her highoctane approach translated into wins and awards as she finished her stellar career at UCLA owning 12 of 13 school records.

A supremely talented all-around player with natural basketball ability and instincts, Meyers was the first player, male or female, named to the All-America team in four straight seasons. She also played on the first women’s Olympic team in 1976. After an All-America career, she became the first woman player drafted into the Women’s Basketball League and made history by becoming the first female player to try out with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers. Meyers pushed the envelope in women’s basketball, bringing a feel and sense for the game that few players ever experience.

PAST ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE winners

2023 Caitlin Clark, Iowa

2022 Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

2021 Paige Bueckers, UConn

2020 Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon

2019 Megan Gustafson, Iowa

2018 A’ja Wilson, South Carolina

2017 Kelsey Plum, Washington

2016 Breanna Stewart, Connecticut

2015 Breanna Stewart, Connecticut

2014 Breanna Stewart, Connecticut

2013 Brittney Griner, Baylor

2012 Brittney Griner, Baylor

2011 Maya Moore, Connecticut

2010 Tina Charles, Connecticut

2009 Maya Moore, Connecticut

2008 Candace Parker, Tennessee

2007 Candace Parker, Tennessee

2006 Ivory Latta, North Carolina

2005 Seimone Augustus, LSU

2004 Alana Beard, Duke

2003 Diana Taurasi, Connecticut

2002 Sue Bird, Connecticut

2001 Ruth Riley, Notre Dame

2000 Tamika Catchings, Tennessee

1999 Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee

1998 Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee

1997 Kate Starbird, Stanford

1996 Saudia Roundtree, Georgia

1995 Rebecca Lobo, Connecticut

1994 Lisa Leslie, USC

1993 Sheryl Swoopes, Texas Tech

1992 Dawn Staley, Virginia

1991 Dawn Staley, Virginia

1990 Jennifer Azzi, Stanford

1989 Clarissa Davis, Texas

1988 Sue Wicks, Rutgers

Player of the Year

Iowa’s Double-Double Machine Caps Historic Career Caitlin Clark

Hailed as a generational player as the most prolific scorer in women’s college basketball history, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark commanded attention not just from Hawkeye opponents, but fans as well, as she continued to rewrite assorted record books this season. The three-time Big Ten Player of the Year’s iconic season that led Iowa to its third Final Four earned Clark a repeat selection as the winner of the 2023-24 Player of the Year.

This is the third USBWA national award for Clark. In addition to the two Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards, she was the USBWA’s CoFreshman of the Year in the 2020-21 season sharing the honor with UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

The award is based on regular-season performance, where Clark led the nation in scoring (32.0) and assists (9.0) per game, threepointers made (193), three-pointers made per game (5.22) and triple-doubles (6, twice as many as second place). She is the only player in the country who averaged more than 26 ppg, 7.0 rpg, and 7.0 apg.

Clark became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer during the season and is the first Division I women’s basketball player to eclipse 1,000-points in back-to-back seasons. To write about Clark’s numbers is to choose from a buffet of statistical metrics. She is the first Division I player to record 3,800-plus points, 1,000-plus assists and 950-plus rebounds in a career.

There is not a career scoring breakdown or statistical subset that Clark does not lead. She has an NCAA-best 66 career games with 25plus points, 5-plus assists, and 5-plus rebounds, and over the last 25 seasons, no one in the men’s or women’s games has recorded more 30-plus point games than Clark’s 58.

Clark is the first Iowa player to earn four USBWA All-America honors as the Hawkeyes’ eighth all-time All-American. She is the USBWA’s fifth four-time All-American, joining former greats Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw (1996-99), Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (2006-09), UConn’s Maya Moore 2008-11) and South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston (2020-23).

NATIONAL MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR

oscar robertson AWARD

In 1998, the USBWA renamed its annual player of the year award the Oscar Robertson Trophy. At the University of Cincinnati, where he became known as “The Big O,” he led the Bearcats to the Final Four in 1959 and ’60. Robertson was a three-time first team All-American, and the first player to lead the NCAA in scoring three straight years. He was the first recipient of the Player of the Year Award in 1959.

During his 14-year NBA career, ten with the Cincinnati Royals and four with the Milwaukee Bucks, Robertson led his teams to 10 playoff appearances, including an NBA championship with the Bucks in 1971. In 1961-62, he became the only player in NBA history ever to average a “triple double” for an entire season. His career record of 9,887 assists stood for 17 years and his 26,710 points and 25.7 points per game average rank him seventh on the list of all-time NBA scorers.

PAST oscar robertson AWARD winners

2023 Zach Edey, Purdue

2022 Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky

2021 Luke Garza, Iowa

2020 Obi Toppin, Dayton

2019 Zion Williamson, Duke

2018 Jalen Brunson, Villanova

2017 Frank Mason III, Kansas

2016 Buddy Hield, Oklahoma

2015 Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin

2014 Doug McDermott, Creighton

2013 Trey Burke, Michigan

2012 Anthony Davis, Kentucky

2011 Jimmer Fredette, BYU

2010 Evan Turner, Ohio State

2009 Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

2008 Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina

2007 Kevin Durant, Texas

2006 Adam Morrison, Gonzaga; J.J. Redick, Duke

2005 Andrew Bogut, Utah

2004 Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph’s

2003 David West, Xavier

2002 Jay Williams, Duke

2001 Shane Battier, Duke

2000 Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati

1999 Elton Brand, Duke

1998 Antawn Jamison, North Carolina

1997 Tim Duncan, Wake Forest

1996 Marcus Camby, Massachusetts

1995 Ed O’Bannon, UCLA

1994 Glenn Robinson, Purdue

1993 Calbert Cheaney, Indiana 1992 Christian Laettner, Duke

Larry Johnson, UNLV

Simmons, La Salle

Ferry, Duke

Player of the Year Purdue Big Man Wins Second Consecutive POY Award zach edey

Purdue center Zach Edey maintained his dominance in the paint and over all opponents again this season, leading the nation in scoring at 24.6 points per game and listing second in rebounding average at 12.1. Those marks that helped lead the Boilermakers (33-4) to the Big Ten regular season title and eventually their first Final Four since 1980 earned Edey a repeat honor as the 2023-24 Oscar Robertson Trophy winner as the USBWA National Player of the Year.

A 7-4 center from Toronto, Ontario, Edey is now a two-time first-team All-America selection by the USBWA after garnering first-team honors last year as well. He is the second Purdue player to win the Oscar Robertson Trophy along with Glenn Robinson (1993-94) and gives the Big Ten three of the last four winners (Iowa center Luka Garza in 2020-21).

A constant inside presence at both ends of the floor, Edey is a remarkable story in only his sixth season of organized basketball in which he continues to rewrite his school, conference and NCAA record books. He is third in points (2,516) and second in rebounds (1,321) in Big Ten history heading into the Final Four. Edey became the first Boilermaker to win Big Ten Player of the Year accolades in back-to-back seasons in a regular season that saw him post per-game averages of 25.0 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 2.0 assists per game. His repeat of being the Big Ten’s leading scorer on a Big Ten-title team while winning Player of the Year is only the sixth such mark in conference history.

Edey and Shaquille O’Neal are the only players in NCAA history to average 25.0 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, 2.0 blocks per game and shoot at least 62 percent from the field in a season. Edey is the 10th Big Ten player and the 11th selection to earn the award going back to two-time winner Jerry Lucas of Ohio State in the 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons, the two seasons following Oscar Robertson’s consecutive National Player of the Year honors at Cincinnati when the award began in 1959.

2023-24 USBWA ALL-AMERICA TEAMS

MEN

FIRST TEAM (5)

RJ Davis, North Carolina

Zach Edey, Purdue

Dalton Knecht, Tennessee

Tyler Kolek, Marquette G

Jamal Shead, Houston G

SECOND TEAM (5)

Hunter Dickinson, Kansas

Kyle Filipowski, Duke

Caleb Love, Arizona

Tristen Newton, UConn

Mark Sears, Alabama

THIRD TEAM (5)

Armando Bacot, UNC F/C

Johni Broome, Auburn F/C

DaRon Holmes II, Dayton F

Antonio Reeves, Kentucky G

Baylor Scheierman, Creighton G

WOMEN

FIRST TEAM (6)

Cameron Brink, Stanford F

Paige Bueckers, UConn G

Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina C

Caitlin Clark, Iowa G

Angel Reese, LSU F

JuJu Watkins, USC G

SECOND TEAM (5)

Aaliyah Edwards, UConn F

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame G

Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana F

Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech C

Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina G

THIRD TEAM (5)

Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech G

Madison Booker, Texas F

Dyaisha Fair, Syracuse G

Alissa Pili, Utah F

Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State G

a n d w i s d o m t o h e l p t a k e

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A proud sponsor of the USBWA Collegiate Basketball Awards

Congratulations to all of the honorees

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