SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today the 20 watch list candidates for the 2020 Cheryl Miller Award. Among the 20 recognized were BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year Shadeen Samuels out of Seton Hall, and the reigning BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player Chante Stonewall out of DePaul. Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and Class of 1995 Hall of Famer, the annual award in its third year recognizes the top small forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.
Recently named the 2019-20 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, Samuels is coming off a breakout junior season for The Hall, winning the BIG EAST scoring title by averaging 20.2 points per game over her 17 league contests. The 6'0" forward added 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game during BIG EAST action. She shot 54.5 percent from the floor and 36.2 percent from 3-point range, also connecting at a 76.7 percent clip from the free throw line. Samuels finished in the BIG EAST top-10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and minutes played. In addition to being named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, she was also honored with the conference's Most Improved Player award thanks to an 11.7 point per game spike in conference scoring. Samuels also increased her rebounding by 1.3 per game, assists by 1.0 per game and field goal percentage by 8.8 percent.
Stonewall is the leading scorer among returning Blue Demons and was selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last season, the senior from Normal, Ill., was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection averaging 14.3 points and 6.6 rebounds. She led the Blue Demons in field goal percentage and blocked shots and was second in steals. Stonewall scored a career-high 28 points including the game-winning three-point play with five seconds left to top Marquette 74-73 in the BIG EAST Tournament title game and won the Most Outstanding Player award. Stonewall is the second Blue Demon recognized by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Earlier in the week, Kelly Campbell was selected to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list as one of the nation's top 20 point guards.
“Cheryl Miller has long been recognized as one of the greats of our game, dominating at USC and winning two NCAA Championships,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “The student-athletes being considered for the Cheryl Miller Award are undoubtedly some of the most gifted in the game today and they should feel proud to be named to the watch list this season.”
The Selection Committee for the Cheryl Miller Award is composed of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers. New to the award this season is Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2020 Cheryl Miller Award will be narrowed to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.
The winner of the 2020 Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award will be presented at
The College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s in Los Angeles, CA on Friday, April 10, 2020, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award, and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.
Previous winners of the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award include
Bridget Carleton, Iowa State (2019) and
Gabby Williams, Connecticut (2018).
For more information on the 2020 Cheryl Miller Award and the latest updates, log onto
www.hoophallawards.com and follow
@hoophall and
#MillerAward on Twitter and Instagram.
Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, October 25.
2020 Cheryl Miller Award Candidates*
| DiDi Richards |
Baylor |
| Megan Walker |
Connecticut |
| Chante Stonewall |
DePaul |
| Francesca Pan |
Georgia Tech |
| Ashley Joens |
Iowa State |
| Rhyne Howard |
Kentucky |
| Kaila Charles |
Maryland |
| Courtney Woods |
Northern Illinois |
| Sam Brunelle |
Notre Dame |
| Ana Llanusa |
Oklahoma |
| Vivian Gray |
Oklahoma State |
| Satou Sabally |
Oregon |
| Mikayla Pivec |
Oregon State |
| Shadeen Samuels |
Seton Hall |
| DiJonai Carrington |
Stanford |
| Mia Davis |
Temple |
| Rennia Davis |
Tennessee |
| Kayla Wells |
Texas A&M |
| Michaela Onyenwere |
UCLA |
| Borislava Hristova |
Washington State |
*Players can play their way onto and off of the list at any point in the 2019-20 season