Nancy Lieberman Award

The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman, was given annually by the Rotary Club of Detroit in the Award's first 14 years to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball.[1] Sue Bird won the inaugural award in 2000, making her the first of only three players to have won three Lieberman Awards. Paige Bueckers is the first freshman (first-year player) to win the award in 2021, and only three players have won as sophomores (second-year players)—Bird in 2000 and the other two three-time winners, Sabrina Ionescu in 2018 and Caitlin Clark in 2022.

Nancy Lieberman Award
Moriah Jefferson receiving Nancy Lieberman Award
Awarded forThe nation's top female point guard in NCAA Division I basketball
CountryUnited States
Presented byRotary Club of Detroit (2000–2013)
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2014–present)
Women's Basketball Coaches Association (2018–present)
First awarded2000
Currently held byCaitlin Clark, Iowa
WebsiteWebsite

The award is given to a player who exemplifies "the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Nancy Lieberman during her career".[2] Originally, voting was performed exclusively by sportswriters. The announcement of the winner has coincided with the Final Four weekend, with an award ceremony the following Wednesday which was hosted by the Detroit Rotary Club at the Detroit Athletic Club through 2013.[2] Beginning with the 2014 award to Odyssey Sims of Baylor University, the Nancy Lieberman Award has been presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Final Four proceedings, and is now presented at the annual convention of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

The 2017–18 season started a new era for the award. Since that season, the WBCA has partnered with the Naismith Hall in the presentation of the award. The two bodies also incorporated the Lieberman Award into a new set of awards known as the "Naismith Starting Five", presented at the WBCA convention (except in 2020, when the convention was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic) to players at each of the five traditional basketball positions. These awards parallel a previously existing set of men's basketball positional awards also presented by the Hall. The other four are:[3]

The voting body for the Lieberman Award also changed upon its incorporation into the Naismith Starting Five. Each of the Starting Five awards is now determined by a selection committee consisting of Hall of Famers, WBCA coaching members, and media, and headed by the award's namesake. Fan voting through the Hall's website is also incorporated into the selection process.

UConn is the only program that has produced more than one Lieberman Award recipient, having had five players combine for a total of nine awards (Bird, Diana Taurasi, Renee Montgomery, Moriah Jefferson and Bueckers). The only other programs with more than one award, Iowa, Notre Dame, and Oregon, have each had a single player win all of that program's awards, respectively Clark (three times), Skylar Diggins (twice) and Ionescu (three times).

Key

*Awarded, in addition, a national Player of the Year award:
the Naismith College Player of the Year, Wade Trophy or the John R. Wooden Award
Player (X)Denotes the number of times the player has received the Nancy Lieberman Award

Winners

UConn's Sue Bird (with ball) is the first player to have won the Nancy Lieberman Award on three occasions.
Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon is the second three-time winner of this award.
SeasonPlayerSchoolClassRef.
1999–2000Sue BirdUConn[a]Sophomore[4]
2000–01[broken anchor]Sue Bird (2)UConn[a]Junior[4]
2001–02Sue Bird* (3)UConn[a]Senior[4]
2002–03Diana Taurasi*UConn[a]Junior[5]
2003–04Diana Taurasi* (2)UConn[a]Senior[5]
2004–05Temeka JohnsonLSUSenior
2005–06Ivory LattaNorth CarolinaJunior[6]
2006–07Lindsey Harding*DukeSenior[7]
2007–08Kristi ToliverMarylandJunior[8]
2008–09Renee MontgomeryUConn[a]Senior[9]
2009–10Andrea RileyOklahoma StateSenior[10]
2010–11Courtney VanderslootGonzagaSenior[11]
2011–12Skylar DigginsNotre DameJunior[12]
2012–13Skylar Diggins (2)Notre DameSenior[12]
2013–14Odyssey Sims*BaylorSenior[13]
2014–15Moriah JeffersonUConnJunior
2015–16Moriah Jefferson (2)UConnSenior[14]
2016–17Kelsey Plum*WashingtonSenior[15]
2017–18Sabrina IonescuOregonSophomore[16]
2018–19Sabrina Ionescu* (2)OregonJunior[17]
2019–20Sabrina Ionescu* (3)OregonSenior[18]
2020–21Paige Bueckers*UConnFreshman[19]
2021–22Caitlin ClarkIowaSophomore[20]
2022–23Caitlin Clark* (2)IowaJunior[21]
2023–24Caitlin Clark* (3)IowaSenior

Winners by school

SchoolWinnersYears
UConn92000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2021
Oregon32018, 2019, 2020
Iowa32022, 2023, 2024
Notre Dame22012, 2013
Baylor12014
Duke12007
Gonzaga12011
LSU12005
Maryland12008
North Carolina12006
Oklahoma State12010
Washington12017

See also

  • Bob Cousy Award – the counterpart to the Lieberman Award; given to the best men's NCAA point guard

Footnotes

References