Springfield, Mass. (March 9, 2022) —The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today the five finalists for the 2022 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award. Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and Class of 1995 Hall of Famer, the annual award in its fifth year recognizes the top small forwards in NCAA Division I college women’s basketball.
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The five finalists for the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award are Ashley Joens (Iowa State), Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), Haley Jones (Stanford), Emily Engstler (Louisville) and Madi Williams (Oklahoma).
“Cheryl Miller is widely regarded as one of the best collegiate players of all time,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “The young women selected as finalists should be extremely proud to be nominated for the award bearing her name. We look forward to working with Cheryl and our esteemed committee to evaluate these players in the coming weeks when games matter most.”
A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 student-athletes in November, which was narrowed to 10 candidates in February and now just five finalists. This month, the finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2022 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Naismith Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, March 11 on hoophallawards.com.
“I am grateful to be the namesake of this award and I thank the Basketball Hall of Fame for acknowledging these outstanding student-athletes,” said Cheryl Miller, Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1995. “I know they have worked tirelessly to accomplish all that they have thus far, and it will be very exciting to watch them this postseason as we determine our award winner.”
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The winner of the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award will be presented on a to be determined date, 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. Additional information about the award presentation, including date and time, will be released in the coming weeks.
Previous winners of the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award include Ashley Joens, Iowa State (2021), Satou Sabally, Oregon (2020), Bridget Carleton, Iowa State (2019) and Gabby Williams, Connecticut (2018).
For more information on the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MillerAward on Twitter and Instagram.
