Naismith College Player of the Year


The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of the inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith.

History and selection

First awarded exclusively to male players in 1969, the award was expanded to include female players in 1983. Annually before the college season begins in November, a "watchlist" consisting of 50 players is chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club board of selectors, comprising head coaches, administrators and media members from across the United States. By February, the list of nominees is narrowed down to 30 players based on performance. In March, four out of the 30 players are selected as finalists and are placed in the final ballot. The final winners are selected in April by both the board of selectors and fan voting via text messaging. The winners receive the Naismith Trophy.
Since its beginning in 1969, the trophy has been awarded to 43 male and 23 female players. Lew Alcindor of the University of California, Los Angeles and Anne Donovan of Old Dominion University were the first winners, respectively. Bill Walton of UCLA and Ralph Sampson of the University of Virginia have been the only men to win this award multiple times, with both winning three times. Eight women in all have won this award multiple times. Cheryl Miller of the University of Southern California and Breanna Stewart of the University of Connecticut are the only three-times winners, while seven others won it twice: Clarissa Davis of the University of Texas, Dawn Staley of the University of Virginia, Chamique Holdsclaw of the University of Tennessee, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore of the University of Connecticut, Seimone Augustus of Louisiana State University, and Brittney Griner of Baylor University. Davis and Moore are the only ones of either sex to have won multiple times in non-consecutive years.
Two award winners were born in United States territories:
The only three award winners who have been born outside the jurisdiction of the United States were:
Three of these players were developed at least partially in the U.S. proper—Lee was raised in Harlem from early childhood, Ewing immigrated to the Boston area at age 12, and Hield attended high school in suburban Wichita, Kansas. Duncan did not move to the U.S. proper until he arrived at Wake Forest University, and Bogut lived in Australia until his arrival at the University of Utah.
Duke has had the most male winners with eight, while UConn has had the most female winners, with ten awards won by six individuals. The award has been won by a freshman three times: Kevin Durant playing for Texas in 2007, in 2012 by Anthony Davis of Kentucky and Zion Williamson of Duke in 2019

Winners

Men

YearPlayerCollegePositionClass
1969*UCLAC
1970*LSUG
1971Notre DameG
1972*UCLAC
1973* UCLAC
1974* UCLAC
1975*N.C. StateG
1976IndianaF
1977UCLAF
1978MarquetteG
1979*Indiana StateF
1980DePaulF
1981*VirginiaC
1982* VirginiaC
1983* VirginiaC
1984*North CarolinaG
1985*GeorgetownC
1986DukeG
1987*NavyC
1988KansasF
1989DukeF
1990La SalleF
1991UNLVF
1992DukeF
1993IndianaG
1994PurdueF
1995MarylandF
1996MassachusettsC
1997*Wake ForestC
1998North CarolinaF
1999DukeF
2000CincinnatiF
2001DukeF
2002DukeG
2003TexasG
2004Saint Joseph'sG
2005UtahC
2006DukeG
2007TexasF
2008North CarolinaF
2009OklahomaF
2010Ohio StateG
2011Brigham YoungG
2012KentuckyC
2013MichiganG
2014CreightonF
2015WisconsinF
2016OklahomaG
2017KansasG
2018VillanovaG
2019DukeF
2020DaytonF

Women

YearPlayerCollegePositionClass
1983*Old DominionC
1984*USCF/C
1985* USCF/C
1986* USCF/C
1987TexasF
1988RutgersF
1989 TexasF
1990StanfordG
1991*VirginiaPG
1992* VirginiaPG
1993*Texas TechG/F
1994*USCC
1995*UConnC
1996GeorgiaG
1997StanfordG
1998TennesseeF
1999 TennesseeF
2000*TennesseeF
2001Notre DameC
2002UConnG
2003UConnG
2004 UConnG
2005LSUG/F
2006 LSUG/F
2007DukePG
2008TennesseeF
2009UConnF
2010UConnC
2011 UConnF
2012BaylorC
2013 BaylorC
2014UConnF
2015 UConnF
2016 UConnF
2017WashingtonPG
2018South CarolinaF
2019IowaC
2020OregonG

;Notes