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Florida women’s basketball forward Jordyn Merritt has been named to the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award watch list, the Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced on Wednesday.
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.
“We are extremely proud of the work ethic and dedication shown by the student athletes on the Cheryl Miller Award Watch LIST,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “After her dominant career at USC and winning a pair of NCAA Championships, Cheryl is one of the greatest to play our game. We are honored to be working alongside her throughout the 2022-23 season.”
Merritt is coming off of a strong sophomore campaign in which she averaged 10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. She tallied a career-high 23 points against Missouri on Feb. 27, 2022, including a perfect six-of-six mark from the charity stripe. She also led the Gators in three-point shooting percentage, converting at a clip of 41.3%. Merritt connected on a career-best five triples in a comeback win over Texas A&M on Jan. 9, 2022. The junior was also named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team during the 2020-21 campaign.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, October 21. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.
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.
Previous winners of the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award are Ashley Joens, Iowa State (2021-22), Satou Sabally, Oregon (2020), Bridget Carleton, Iowa State (2019) and Gabby Williams, Connecticut (2018).
For more information on the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MillerAward on Twitter and Instagram.
2023 Cheryl Miller Award Candidates
Aijah Blackwell – Baylor
Elizabeth Balogun – Duke
Jordyn Merritt – Florida
Grace Berger – Indiana
Ashley Joens – Iowa State
Morgan Jones – Louisville
Shyanne Sellers – Maryland
Mimi Collins – NC State
Skyler Gill – North Alabama
Alyssa Ustby – North Carolina
Madi Williams – Oklahoma
Lior Garzon – Oklahoma State
Brea Beal – South Carolina
Myah Selland – South Dakota State
Haley Jones – Stanford
Rickea Jackson – Tennessee
Shay Holle – Texas
Caroline Ducharme – Uconn
Gianna Kneepkens – Utah
Taylor Soule – Virginia Tech
*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2022-23 season
For more Florida College News visit: www.communitynewspapers.com
For more sports coverage from NBA,NFL, to NCAA contact Julian Ojeda: julian@communitynewspapers.com
