Mara Braun named to Cheryl Miller Award watch list

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Braun Named to Cheryl Miller Award Watch List - University of Minnesota Athletics

Minnesota sophomore Mara Braun is one of 20 candidates named to the 2024 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award Watch List, the Naismith Memorial Bask...
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MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota sophomore Mara Braun is one of 20 candidates named to the 2024 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award Watch List, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced Wednesday. Now in its seventh year, the award recognizes the top small forward in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.

"This is an incredible honor for Mara and for our entire Minnesota women's basketball program," head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. "We are excited for the upcoming season, and we are getting close to tipping things off at the Barn!"

Named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team on Oct. 4, by the league's coaches, Braun was first on the team and 12th in the Big Ten conference in scoring at 15.6 points per game last season. The Big Ten All-Freshman Team member was ranked third overall in the Big Ten in free throw percentage at 87.5 percent (Min. 2.5 FTM/G) and was second among freshmen in the conference in points per contest. A native of Wayzata, Minn., Braun was the first true freshman to lead the Maroon and Gold in scoring since Rachel Banham in 2011-12 (16.1). During the summer Braun was a regular on Team USA's 3x3 circuit, earning a gold medal at the FIBA U23 Nations League Final in Mongolia in September. In 22 games of 3x3 action Braun's team was 21-1 with Braun's squad becoming the first United States, men or women, to win the Nations League event.

A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, October 20. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 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.

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
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The list:

CHERYL MILLER SMALL FORWARD OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST
NameClassSchool
Aneesah MorrowJr.LSU
Rickea JacksonGr.Tennessee
Alyssa UstbySr.North Carolina
Cotie McMahonSo.Ohio State
Caroline DucharmeJr.UConn
Aijha BlackwellGr.Baylor
Azzi FuddJr.UConn
Lior GarzonSr.Oklahoma State
Jordyn MerrittSr.Texas Tech
Jakie Brown-TurnerGr.Maryland
Madison ScottSr.Ole Miss
Grace VanSlootenSo.Oregon
Skylar VannSr.Oklahoma
Yarden GarzonSo.Indiana
Jordan KingSr.Marquette
Morgan MalySr.Creighton
Kiki JeffersonGr.Louisville
McKenzie ForbesGr.USC
Kennedy Todd-WilliamsSr.Ole Miss
Mara BraunSo.Minnesota

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One of only 4 sophomores to make the list. Congrats Mara.
 

A “Small Forward Award” doesn’t make a lot of sense in the women’s game. What are the characteristics of a small forward in college WBB? The list of players on the watch list provides no clue. Aneesah Morrow (a finalist last year for the power forward award) and Mara Braun can’t reasonably be regarded as playing the same position.
 



BigTenGuy said:
A “Small Forward Award” doesn’t make a lot of sense in the women’s game. What are the characteristics of a small forward in college WBB? The list of players on the watch list provides no clue. Aneesah Morrow (a finalist last year for the power forward award) and Mara Braun can’t reasonably be regarded as playing the same position.
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Looking at past winners, Ashley Joens was the gold standard.

YEARPLAYER NAMESCHOOL
2023Ashley JoensIowa State
2022Ashley JoensIowa State
2021Ashley JoensIowa State
2020Satou SaballyUniversity of Oregon
2019Bridget CarletonIowa St. University
2018Gabby WilliamsUniversity of Connecticut
 



BigTenGuy said:
A “Small Forward Award” doesn’t make a lot of sense in the women’s game. What are the characteristics of a small forward in college WBB? The list of players on the watch list provides no clue. Aneesah Morrow (a finalist last year for the power forward award) and Mara Braun can’t reasonably be regarded as playing the same position.
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Yea, I was also thinking about positionless basketball philosophy (especially in the NBA) with only 3 position categories -- wing/Etc, point guard, and center/post -- that blur into each other. Mara Braun (a shooting guard) would fall into that wing/Etc category. Maybe the name of the award is a bit outdated.

Congrats to Braun!
 
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thatjanelpick said:
..and, somehow, the list suggests UConn will have two starters playing that same position.
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Azzi Fudd ended up on the small forward list so she wouldn’t compete with Paige Bueckers, who ended up on the shooting guard list, so she wouldn’t have to compete with Caitlin Clark for the point guard award. Bueckers won the point guard award in 2021, but she’s now a shooting guard. More generally, the allocation of players to these HoopHall categories makes no sense, e.g., Morrow as a small forward to avoid competing with her teammate Reese.
 
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SHGopher said:
. . . Maybe the name of the award is a bit outdated.
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These HoopHall Awards are only 6 years old (except for the pg award). Not sure either of the forward awards made sense at inception. Interestingly, the winner of the small forward award has never made either the AP or USBWA First-Team All-American team.
 

What I think may be going on are various activities to generate attention for women's basketball. Girls need role models and need to see video and media to grow girls sports.

The recent 3 x 3 were a little like that. They generated highlights clips.

Women's hockey began scheduling more competitions between Olympics, and it is working to create awareness.

I am speculating, maybe some of these awards and events that are not the main big awards are to generate buzz.
 

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