The Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the Big Ten's first full season of women's basketball in 1982–83 (although the conference held its first postseason tournament the previous season). The league's head coaches have presented the award since 1983; media members who cover Big Ten women's basketball began presenting their own version of the award in 1996. Ten players have won the award multiple times. Six players have won twice: Anucha Browne of Northwestern (1984, 1985), Tracey Hall of

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

(1986, 1987), Katie Douglas of

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

(2000, 2001),

Kelly Mazzante Kelly Anne Mazzante (born February 2, 1982) is an American retired professional women's basketball player who last played for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA. After her collegiate career, she was the all-time leading scorer in Big Ten basketball hi ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

(2003, 2004), Maggie Lucas of Penn State (2013, 2014), and Megan Gustafson of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

(2018, 2019). Four players have won more than two awards. Ohio State's

Jantel Lavender Jantel Lavender (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 ...

is the only four-time winner (2008–2011), though only the 2009 and 2010 awards were unanimous (she won the coaches' award in 2008 and the media award in 2011). Jessica Davenport, also of Ohio State, and

Caitlin Clark Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...

of Iowa are the only players to have been the unanimous winner of three awards (Davenport: 2005–2007; Clark: 2022–2024). Ohio State's other three-time winner, Kelsey Mitchell, won the coaches' award in 2015 and 2018 and both awards in 2017. Five players have won a major national player of the year award in the same season in which they were Big Ten Player of the Year. Michelle Edwards of Iowa won the Rawlings/Women Basketball Coaches Association national player of the year award in 1988; Carol Ann Shudlick of Minnesota won the Wade Trophy in 1994; Stephanie White of Purdue won the Wade Trophy and Honda Award in 1999; Megan Gustafson won the Naismith and Honda Awards in 2019, and was also named national player of the year by AP and the United States Basketball Writers Association; and Caitlin Clark won all significant national awards in both 2023 and 2024. The coaches and media have split their honors six times in all, with the most recent being 2018, when Mitchell won the coaches' award and Gustafson won the media award. Ohio State has the record for the most awards with 15, and the most individuals who have won the award, with seven. Of schools that were Big Ten members before the 2024–25 season, three have never had a winner: long-established member

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and the two schools that joined the conference in 2014,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

. Three of the four schools that joined in 2024 (

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

) have also yet to produce a winner.

Key

Winners

Winners by school

Footnotes

References

;General * ** Players of the Year through 2013–14 season: p. 77 ** National award winners: p. 78 ** Positions for winners prior to 2014–15, unless noted otherwise: Most Valuable Players (by school), pp. 74–75 ;Specific {{Women's college basketball award navbox

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

NCAA Division I women's basketball conference players of the year Awards established in 1983

Key

Winners

Winners by school

See also

Footnotes

References