Mercury’s Taurasi And More Win Major College Award

The Naismith College Player of the Year was introduced in 1969 for men’s basketball and in 1983 for women’s basketball. Lew Alcindor, who is also known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was the first player to win for the men, and Anne Donovan won it for women. After Donovan, Cheryl Miller won the award, and she did it three times. Miller was a star in her college years, and years later, she coached the Phoenix Mercury. She was their coach for four seasons before resigning. Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil won the award after Miller, and she did it twice. She did it in 1987 and in 1989. Sue Wicks won it in 1988. Davis-Wrightsil ended up playing for the Mercury, as she was their second-round pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft. She averaged 9.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists that year. Greats like Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Rebecca Lobo won the award, and others followed suit. Tamika Catchings won in 2000, Ruth Riley won in 2001, then after Sue Bird won in 2002, a Mercury great won two in a row. Diana Taurasi wRead More