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Kneepkens Announced as Cheryl Miller Award Top 5 Candidate
3/1/2023 11:51 AM | Women's Basketball
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award Top Five Candidates, and the University of Utah's Gianna Kneepkens was listed as a finalist.
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 player by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, March 3, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
This month, the finalists will be presented to Miller and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. 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.
The winner of the 2023 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 Award (Point Guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men's Starting Five.
Kneepkens, a sophomore from Duluth, Minn., ranks second in the Pac-12 and 21st in the nation at 41.6 percent from three-point range for the season (62-149). Her 62 three-pointers is third in all Pac-12 players.
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 22 games this season, including six games of 20 or more points. She recorded a season high of 28 points in Utah's 84-78 win over Stanford.
She currently averages 15.3 points per game and 5.0 rebounds a game. Kneepkens is shooting .507 from the field and .828 from the free throw line. She's also racked up 61 assists, 23 steals and 16 blocks.
She was recently named to the Pac-12 All-Conference team.
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 just claimed its share of the Pac-12 regular season title and is 25-3 overall and 15-3 in the Pac-12. The Utes are the nation's fourth-highest-scoring team, averaging 84.4 points per game, and rank fourth in field-goal percentage (48.8), sixth in scoring margin (+18.5) and ninth in assists (18.6).
Up Next
Utah hits the road to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Pac-12 Tournament. Utah enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and is slated to play Thursday, March 2, at 7 p.m. MT. The Utes will take on the winner of a first-round game between No. 7 Washington State and No. 10 California.
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 player by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, March 3, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
This month, the finalists will be presented to Miller and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. 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.
The winner of the 2023 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 Award (Point Guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men's Starting Five.
Kneepkens, a sophomore from Duluth, Minn., ranks second in the Pac-12 and 21st in the nation at 41.6 percent from three-point range for the season (62-149). Her 62 three-pointers is third in all Pac-12 players.
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 22 games this season, including six games of 20 or more points. She recorded a season high of 28 points in Utah's 84-78 win over Stanford.
She currently averages 15.3 points per game and 5.0 rebounds a game. Kneepkens is shooting .507 from the field and .828 from the free throw line. She's also racked up 61 assists, 23 steals and 16 blocks.
She was recently named to the Pac-12 All-Conference team.
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 just claimed its share of the Pac-12 regular season title and is 25-3 overall and 15-3 in the Pac-12. The Utes are the nation's fourth-highest-scoring team, averaging 84.4 points per game, and rank fourth in field-goal percentage (48.8), sixth in scoring margin (+18.5) and ninth in assists (18.6).
Up Next
Utah hits the road to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Pac-12 Tournament. Utah enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and is slated to play Thursday, March 2, at 7 p.m. MT. The Utes will take on the winner of a first-round game between No. 7 Washington State and No. 10 California.
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