Caitlin Clark Again Named B1G POY
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced its 2023-24 women’s basketball all-conference teams and individual award recipients Tuesday live on the Big Ten Network’s “B1G Today” show.
For the third consecutive season, Iowa senior Caitlin Clark was voted Big Ten Player of the Year by both the conference coaches and a select panel of Big Ten media members. She is the first back-to-back-to-back recipient of the honor since Ohio State’s Jantel Lavender was chosen in 2008 (coaches only), 2009 and 2010. This marks the sixth time in seven seasons and 10th time overall that an Iowa student-athlete has been tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Year.
Nebraska forward Natalie Potts was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the conference’s coaches, while Purdue forward Mary Ashley Stevenson garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Year from the media panel. Ohio State’s graduate student guard Celeste Taylor earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year laurels from the coaches, while Wisconsin’s sophomore forward Serah Williams received Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year recognition in the media vote. Ohio State’s Kevin McGuff was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and Michigan State sophomore guard Theryn Hallock was voted the Big Ten’s Sixth Player of the Year.
Clark is once again included on every watch list for major national player of the year awards and was recently selected as a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation’s top point guard, an honor she has received the last two years. The West Des Moines, Iowa native is the NCAA’s all-time leading scoring in college basketball history with 3,685 points. She has broken the NCAA record for three-pointers made in a single season (162) and became the first Big Ten women’s basketball player to record over 500 three-pointers in a career (509). Clark has etched her name in various categories in the Big Ten Conference record book. She is the Big Ten’s and Iowa’s all-time assist leader and currently has 1,058 for her career, just the sixth player in NCAA women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 assists. Clark owns the top spot as the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer and claimed the conference record for career field goals made. She is the first Division I player to record 3,600+ points, 1,000+ assists and 850+ rebounds in a career and the all-time leading scorer in the state of Iowa in Division I college basketball history.
Potts is just the third Husker to be chosen as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, joining Alexis Markowski (2022) and Jessica Shepard (2016). Coming from O’Fallon, Mo., Potts was an eight-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week this season, which tied for the third-most in conference history. She concluded the regular season averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Stevenson is the fourth Boilermaker to be tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the first since her current head coach Katie Gearlds took home the honor in 2004. Hailing from New York City, Stevenson garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition twice this season and averaged 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Taylor is the fourth Buckeye to earn the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year laurel and first since Amber Stokes in 2012. The Valley Stream, N.Y. native is featured on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List and leads the Big Ten with 2.24 steals per game. Taylor has started every game to help Ohio State in topping the Big Ten in scoring defense (66.1 ppg) while ranking second in field goal percentage defense (.423) and fourth in blocked shots (3.5 bpg).
Williams is the first Badger since Tamara Moore in 2001 to be named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native tallied 2.85 blocks and 11.3 rebounds per game to stand sixth and seventh, respectively, in the NCAA’s national rankings. Williams closed the regular season with her 15th straight double-double, which tied Megan Gustafson’s Big Ten record for consecutive double-doubles set during the 2018-19 season, and is on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List.
McGuff secured his first Big Ten Coach of the Year award after leading the Buckeyes to a 25-4 overall record and 16-2 mark in the Big Ten. Under his leadership, Ohio State has been ranked in the top 25 nationally every week this season, including three weeks at No. 2 in the Associated Press (AP) poll for the highest ranking in program history. Ohio State also earned the No. 2 national seed in the latest NCAA regular season top-16 seed reveal. McGuff is on the late season watch list for the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year award.
Hallock joins Kalisha Keane (2010) as the only Spartans to claim Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year honors. A resident of Grand Rapids, Mich., she appeared in all 29 games for Michigan State this season, averaging 7.4 points and 2.1 assists per game.
Clark and graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes were unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selections by both the coaches and media, while Ohio State graduate student guard Jacy Sheldon was a unanimous first-team choice by the coaches. In addition, Potts, Stevenson and Minnesota guard/forward Grace Grocholski were unanimously voted to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by the coaches.
The Big Ten also recognized 14 Sportsmanship Award recipients in the sport of women’s basketball on Tuesday, one from each conference school. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The complete All-Big Ten teams, as well as a list of other honorees can be found here.
The 2024 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament is set to tip off Wednesday and will continue through Sunday, with all 13 games being played at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Big Ten Network will televise 10 tournament games from the second round on Thursday through Saturday’s semifinals. All BTN games can also be seen live on the FOX Sports app.
The opening round of the tournament on Wednesday will be streamed on Peacock and Sunday’s championship game will be televised on CBS at 11 a.m. CT, both firsts for the networks.
