Sabrina IonescuThe Jersey Mike's Naismith Awards have released the 10 finalists for the 2018-19 Collegiate Player of the Year Award. Here’s a look at where each of the nominees season’s are at.
Kristine Anigwe
Cal: 23.3 P, 15.7 R
Anigwe has been the driving force in the middle of the paint for the Golden Bears. She’s recorded multiple 20-point, 20-rebound performances.
Bridget Carleton
Iowa State: 21.3 P, 8.4 R, 4.3 A
Carleton is the Cyclones go-to scoring threat on the perimeter for an upper echelon Big XII unit. Over her career, she has blossomed into an elite scorer nationally.
Napheesha Collier
UConn: 19.4 P, 10.2 R
Collier is a literal jack-of-all-trades. She has the versatility to do her damage facing the basket or around the rim.
Asia Durr
Louisville: 20.9 P, 3.6 R, 3.3 A
A walking bucket, Durr can score it with the best of them. She’s a marquee name going into the WNBA Draft this spring but has some scores left to settle on the college level first.
Megan Gustafson
Iowa: 27.4 P, 13.1 R
Gustafson’s statline fulfillment never takes a night off. She’s producing at a clip reminiscent to Amanda Zauhi B. a couple of years back.
Natisha Hiedeman
Marquette: 18.3 P, 5.7 R, 4.4 A
Hiedeman has Marquette positioned in the best spot in program history headed into the final stretch of the regular season. Touching multiple categories is a major key to her game
Sabrina Ionescu
Oregon: 19.7 P, 7.3 R, 8.0 A
Ionescu is making a strong case to be selected as the No. 1 pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft. Her stat line makes her a matchup nightmare for opposing teams.
Teaira McCowan
Mississippi State: 16.8 P, 13.6 R, 2.6 B
McCowan is neck and neck with the aforementioned Anigwe as the nation’s premier interior defensive threat. McCowan’s size and ability to protect the lane is on full display yet again this season.
Arike Ogunbowale
Notre Dame: 21.1 P, 5.0 R, 4.2 A
After earning national acclaim for her play in last spring’s Final Four, Ogunbowale is right back as if she never left. Much like her ACC counterpart Durr, Ogunbowale can get a perimeter shot whenever she’s called upon to do so.
Katie Lou Samuelson
Connecticut: 19.9 P, 7.1 R, 3.8 A
For the Huskies, Samuelson is the perfect yin to Collier’s yang. A shooter’s shooter, Samuelson arguably the nation’s premier 3-point shooter though her percentages are down from the 2017-18 campaign.
Brandon Clay serves as the WNBA Director of Scouting for ProspectsNation.com and owns The JumpOffPlus.com International Report, which is picked up by more than 150 colleges and universities nationwide. He serves as the Executive Camp Director for the Elite Basketball Academy Camps. He serves on the Naismith Trophy Men’s / Women’s College Player of the Year Academy and is chairman of the HS Boys / Girls Board of Selectors and is on the McDonald’s All-American Selection Committee. He also is the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com.
