The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award Top 10 Candidates, and the University of Utah's Gianna Kneepkens was listed in the Top-10.
Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and Class of 1995 Hall of Famer, the annual award, in its sixth year, recognizes the top small forwards in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. To view the complete list, click here.
Fans can support their favorite players in the remaining rounds by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, February 3, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
Kneepkens, a sophomore from Duluth, Minn., ranks first in the Pac-12 and ninth in the nation at 45.5 percent from three-point range for the season (45-99). Her 45 three-pointers lead all Pac-12 players, and she is 20 of 48 (41.6%) from three-point range over the past 10 games.
Kneepkens has scored in double figures in a career-best seven consecutive games from Nov. 13-Dec. 14, and has done so in all but five games this season, including four games of 20 or more points.
She currently averages 14.7 points per game and 4.7 rebounds a game. Kneepkens is shooting .529 from the field.
During the 2021-22 season, Kneepkens was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, becoming the second player in program history to earn this Pac-12 honor and the first since 2019. Besides making Freshman of the Year honors, she also earned First Team Pac-12 and All-Freshman Team honors. She earned Pac-12 All-Tournament team honors following the Pac-12 tournament, the first Ute in program history to earn this honor.
Utah, 18-2 overall and 8-2 in the Pac-12, is the nation's fifth-highest-scoring team, averaging 84.6 points per game, and rank fourth in field-goal percentage (49.3), third in scoring margin (+22.2) and eighth in assists (18.2).
Up Next
The Utes will take on Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., Friday Feb. 3 before heading to Eugene on Sunday, Feb. 5 to take on Oregon. Utah returns to the Jon M. Huntsman Center Feb. 10 and Feb. 12 to take on Washington and Washington State.