HOPEWELL, N.J.  — HerHoopStats.com announced the 25 members of the preseason watch list for the 2024 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats.  (FULL LIST)

The Missouri Valley Conference has three players making the list. Drake's Katie Dinnebier, Murray State’s Katelyn Young and UNI's Maya McDermott each appeared on the list of 25 players.  All three were named as Preseason All-MVC first-team selections on Tuesday morning. 

A steady hand at point guard for Drake’s constant motion offense, Dinnebier put up an impressive combination of scoring and passing efficiency in her sophomore season. Dinnebier is one of just six players since 2009-10 to average at least 1.25 points per scoring attempt (PPSA) and an assist-to-turnover ratio of at least 2.00 (min. 10 points and five assists per game). The last three players to accomplish this feat were Paige Bueckers, Sabrina Ionescu, and Gabby Williams.

Young continued to put up her typical efficient numbers in the Racers’ first season in the MVC, including an impressive 22.1 points per game against conference opponents, the highest average in the conference. Young is the only player in Division I to average at least 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on at least 50% shooting in each of the past two seasons. Only six other players have at least one such season, all of whom have been AP All-American honorees in their collegiate careers.

After two years of coming off the bench, McDermott emerged as a leader on last season’s UNI team, especially as the primary ball-handler for a team that doesn’t rely a lot on off-ball movement and instead thrives in quick transition opportunities and finding the optimal post-up and spot-up shooters, putting a lot of importance on McDermott to make quick reads.

The Becky Hammon Award was first given out in 2020, with South Dakota’s Ciara Duffy being named the inaugural winner. FGCU’s Kierstan Bell won the award in 2021 and 2022. This year’s preseason watch list includes representatives from 25 schools and 13 conferences.

Award Eligibility & Schedule
To be eligible for this award, players must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be “mid-major”. The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award, and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC. In January the 15-player midseason watch list will be announced, followed by 10 semifinalists announced in February. The five finalists will be announced in early March, with the winner announced around the Final Four. The list is fluid and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the season.
 
About Becky Hammon
Hammon was a three-time All-American during her career at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999, the program’s only appearance to date. She was signed by the New York Liberty in 1999 and traded to the San Antonio Stars in 2007, where she played the rest of her career. Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016 she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was named to the W25 in 2021.

Hammon became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Additionally, Hammon is the only woman to be a head coach in the NBA Summer League as well as the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff. Currently, Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and won the 2022 and 2023 WNBA Championships.

About Her Hoop Stats
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. We began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game providing content through our newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).