CLEVELAND — Ahead of the NCAA Women's Final Four in Cleveland, Caitlin Clark was named the country's most outstanding women's basketball player of the year at the 2024 Women's Naismith Awards Presentation.
The awards, which are named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball, recognize the most outstanding women's college basketball players and coaches.
South Carolina's Dawn Staley, who like Clark, is in Cleveland preparing for this weekend's NCAA Women's Final Four, was honored as the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year, while Cameron Brink from Stanford was named Defensive Women's Player of the Year. Staley has won the Women's College Coach of the Year award for four of the past five seasons and is the first coach to win the award in three consecutive seasons.
Clark, who was named the Big Ten’s Player of the Year for the third consecutive season in 2024, is the first player to win Women's Player of the Year in consecutive seasons since UConn’s Breanna Stewart from 2014-16.
3News streamed the Naismith Awards Presentation, which you can watch in the player below:
Clark has a chance to add to her trophy collection at the Final Four in Cleveland this weekend. Her Iowa Hawkeyes will square off against fellow finalist Paige Bueckers and UConn in a semifinal on Friday at 9:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks will take on NC State in the first semifinal at 7 p.m.
Here are the winners and finalists for this year's Naismith Awards:
Jersey Mike's Women's Player of the Year Finalists
Winner: Catilin Clark, Iowa
Cameron Brink, Stanford
- The Pac-12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the 20th conference Player of the Year from Stanford.
- She is one of only two players in Pac-12 history who was named conference Defensive Player of the Year three times (Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford).
- The only player in the nation to average 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks per game.
- Leads the nation in blocks (3.6 bpg) and is third in rebounding at 11.9 per game.
- The first college player with 500 points, 300 rebounds and 100 blocks in consecutive seasons since Breanna Stewart did so from 2014-16.
- Finalist for the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Paige Bueckers, UConn
- Named BIG EAST Player of the Year for the second time after winning in 2020-21.
- Tied program mark for fastest to 1,000 points (55 games) earlier this season.
- Her 785 points in 2023-24 are the third-highest total in UConn history.
- She returned to action this year after missing last season due to injury and led the Huskies in scoring with 21.5 points per game, which ranks 12th in the nation.
- She has scored 20+ points 26 times in 2023-24 to lead all BIG EAST players.
- Won this award in 2021, following her 2020 honor as the Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Trophy winner.
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
- Earned her third consecutive Big Ten Player of the Year award.
- Became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in college basketball history.
- She leads the nation in scoring (31.9) and assists (8.9) per game.
- Became the first Division I player to record over 1,000+ points in consecutive seasons.
- The first Iowa player in program history to be named First Team All-Big Ten in four straight years of competition.
- Led the Hawkeyes to three consecutive Big Ten Championships for the first time in program history.
JuJu Watkins, Southern California
- Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
- Second in the nation in scoring at 26.9 points per game, the second highest in Pac-12 history.
- Her 861 points is a new USC single-season scoring record and ranks fifth in Pac-12 history.
- Set a USC scoring record with 51 points at Stanford.
- One of only five Pac-12 players to tally at least 750 points, 150 rebounds and 50 steals in a season.
Werner Ladder Women’s Coach of the Year Finalists
Winner: Dawn Staley, South Carolina
Lisa Bluder, Iowa
- Her team is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and she guided the Hawkeyes to a 30-4 record – their eighth consecutive season with 20 or more victories, which is the most since C. Vivian Stringer was head coach.
- Iowa has won 30+ games for only the second time in school history (2022-23).
- Bluder has the 10th most wins in Division-I women’s basketball history and is third among active DI head coaches (880).
- She has guided Iowa to three straight Big Ten Tournament titles and coached six of the last seven Big Ten Players of the Year.
- This year marks the 14th time in the last 16 seasons her team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Lindsay Gottlieb, Southern California
- She led her team to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the first for the program since 1986.
- The tournament appearance is the second consecutive for the Women of Troy for the first time since 2006.
- The Trojans won the Pac-12 Tournament.
- Her team is currently 27-5 – the most wins for the Trojans since going 31-5 in 1985-86.
Dawn Staley, South Carolina
- She led the Gamecocks to an undefeated season entering the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
- Named SEC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in her career and the third consecutive year.
- Guided South Carolina to its third consecutive SEC regular season and fourth conference tournament title in five seasons.
- Led the team to its third consecutive overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and to the school’s 10th straight appearance in the tournament’s Sweet 16.
Tara VanDerveer, Stanford
- VanDerveer has led Stanford to a 30-5 record this season, a 15-3 mark in the Pac-12 and the Cardinal’s fourth consecutive Pac-12 regular-season title.
- Her teams have won 20 or more games a record 39 times, including each of the last 23 seasons.
- On Jan. 21, 2024, she surpassed Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) to become the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history. She now has 1,216 career wins.
- Her team is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the Sweet 16.
Finalists for Women's Defensive Player of the Year:
Winner: Cameron Brink, Stanford
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Celeste Taylor, Ohio State
MORE FINAL FOUR COVERAGE:
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