The Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the Big Ten's first full season of women's basketball in 1982–83 (although the conference held its first postseason tournament the previous season). The league's head coaches have presented the award since 1983; media members who cover Big Ten women's basketball began presenting their own version of the award in 1996.[n 1]
| Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Big Ten Conference |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Big Ten head coaches (1983–present) Big Ten media (1996–present) |
| First awarded | 1983 |
| Currently held by | Caitlin Clark, Iowa |
Ten players have won the award multiple times. Six players have won twice: Anucha Browne of Northwestern (1984, 1985), Tracey Hall of Ohio State (1986, 1987), Katie Douglas of Purdue (2000, 2001), Kelly Mazzante of Penn State (2003, 2004), Maggie Lucas of Penn State (2013, 2014), and Megan Gustafson of Iowa (2018, 2019). Four players have won more than two awards. Ohio State's Jantel Lavender is the only four-time winner (2008–2011), though only the 2009 and 2010 awards were unanimous (she won the coaches' award in 2008 and the media award in 2011). Jessica Davenport, also of Ohio State, and Caitlin Clark of Iowa are the only players to have been the unanimous winner of three awards (Davenport: 2005–2007; Clark: 2022–2024). Ohio State's other three-time winner, Kelsey Mitchell, won the coaches' award in 2015 and 2018 and both awards in 2017.
Five players have won a major national player of the year award in the same season in which they were Big Ten Player of the Year. Michelle Edwards of Iowa won the Rawlings/Women Basketball Coaches Association national player of the year award in 1988; Carol Ann Shudlick of Minnesota won the Wade Trophy in 1994; Stephanie White of Purdue won the Wade Trophy and Honda Award in 1999; Megan Gustafson won the Naismith and Honda Awards in 2019, and was also named national player of the year by AP and the United States Basketball Writers Association; and Caitlin Clark won all significant national awards in both 2023 and 2024.
The coaches and media have split their honors six times in all, with the most recent being 2018, when Mitchell won the coaches' award and Gustafson won the media award.
Ohio State has the record for the most awards with 15, and the most individuals who have won the award, with seven. Of schools that were Big Ten members before the 2024–25 season, three have never had a winner: long-established member Indiana, and the two schools that joined the conference in 2014, Maryland and Rutgers. Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington play their first Big Ten seasons in 2024–25.
Key
edit| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| C | Coaches selection |
| M | Media selection |
| * | Awarded a national Player of the Year award: Wade Trophy (1977–78 to present) Naismith College Player of the Year (1982–83 to present) John R. Wooden Award (2003–04 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been named the Big Ten Player of the Year at that point |
Winners
editWinners by school
edit| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio State (1912) | 15 | 1986, 1987, 1989, 1996, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008†, 2009, 2010, 2011†, 2012, 2015†, 2017, 2018† |
| Iowa (1900) | 10 | 1988, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2018†, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Minnesota (1896) | 5 | 1983, 1994, 2002, 2015†, 2016 |
| Penn State (1993) | 5 | 2000†, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014† |
| Purdue (1896) | 5 | 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000†, 2001 |
| Northwestern (1896) | 2 | 1984, 1985 |
| Illinois (1896) | 1 | 1997 |
| Michigan (1896) | 1 | 2021 |
| Michigan State (1953) | 1 | 2011† |
| Nebraska (2011) | 1 | 2014† |
| Wisconsin (1896) | 1 | 2008† |
| Indiana (1900) | 0 | — |
| Maryland (2014) | 0 | — |
| Oregon (2024) | 0 | — |
| Rutgers (2014) | 0 | — |
| UCLA (2024) | 0 | — |
| USC (2024) | 0 | — |
| Washington (2024) | 0 | — |
See also
edit- Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball, another award formerly presented to the Big Ten men's and women's players of the year
Footnotes
edit- ^ Big Ten records do not directly state when media began presenting a Player of the Year award. However, the Big Ten's 2014–15 women's basketball media guide, the primary reference for this article, explicitly states that media members began selecting an all-conference team in the 1995–96 season (see p. 76). It can therefore be safely assumed that media began choosing their own Player of the Year at that time.
References
edit- General
- "2014–15 Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- Players of the Year through 2013–14 season: p. 77
- National award winners: p. 78
- Positions for winners prior to 2014–15, unless noted otherwise: Most Valuable Players (by school), pp. 74–75
- Specific
- ^ Big Ten WNBA Draft Selections, 2014–15 Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Media Guide, p. 85.
- ^ "Women's Basketball: 2013–14 Roster". Nebraska Cornhuskers. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- ^ a b "Women's Basketball Postseason Honors" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 2, 2015. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ "Big Ten Unveils Women's Basketball Postseason Honors on BTN" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. February 29, 2016. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
- ^ "Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ a b "Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. February 26, 2018. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- ^ "Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced on BTN" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 4, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ^ "2019-20 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 2, 2020. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "2020-21 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 8, 2021. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ "2021-22 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 1, 2022. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ "2022-23 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. February 28, 2023. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
- ^ "2023-24 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 5, 2024. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.