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Caitlin Clark Named a Naismith NPOY Finalist

Sports

March 26th, 2024 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior guard, Caitlin Clark, was named a finalist for the 2024 Wade Trophy the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced on Tuesday. The prestigious award is presented by the WBCA each year to the best player in college women’s basketball. Clark won the award in 2023.
Clark owns a career 3,800+ points and she recently became the first Division-I player to record 1,000+ points in back-to-back seasons. A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark is once again a finalist for every major national player of the year award. Clark leads the nation in assists (8.7 assists per game) and in scoring (31.8 points per game) after becoming the first player to finish No. 1 in both categories in back-to-back seasons. She is also the only player in NCAA DI men’s or women’s basketball history to lead her conference in scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons.
Clark was recently tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Year and is the first player in program history to be named First Team All-Big Ten four times in four years of competition. She has also led the Hawkeyes to three straight Big Ten Championships for the first time in program history.
The Wade Trophy — now in its 47th year — is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women’s basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I National Player of the Year since 2001.
Carol Blazejowski of Montclair State was the first recipient of the Wade Trophy. Two-time winners include Nancy Lieberman (1979, 1980) of Old Dominion, Seimone Augustus (2005, 2006) of LSU, Brittney Griner (2012, 2013) of Baylor, Breanna Stewart (2015, 2016) of Connecticut, and Sabrina Ionescu (2019, 2020) of Oregon. Maya Moore (2009, 2010, 2011) of Connecticut is the only three-time recipient.
NCAA Division I head coaches who are WBCA members may nominate players from their own teams for Coaches’ All-America. They then vote for the top eight players in their respective regions from among those players who are nominated. The WBCA NCAA Division I Awards Committee, which is composed of head coaches from each region who are elected by their peers, may select up to 12 additional at-large finalists from the remaining pool of nominees.
The committee will meet in Cleveland in conjunction with the annual WBCA Convention to select the 2024 Wade Trophy winner and the 2024 WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America team. Both will be announced on April 4.