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Vann Named to Watch List for Cheryl Miller Award
October 18, 2023 | Women's Basketball
NORMAN – Oklahoma senior forward Skylar Vann was named to the Cheryl Miller Award watch list on Wednesday. The accolade is given annually to the nation's top small forward and is presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Vann, the back-to-back Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year, is one of 20 players named to the watch list, and her selection to the list marks the third consecutive season that a Sooner is on the award's preseason watch, as Madi Williams was a finalist for the award in 2022 and 2023.
"The student-athletes on the Cheryl Miller Watch List embody many of the same skills and characteristics that carried Cheryl through her dominant career at USC," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. "We are excited to watch the candidates' seasons unfold and look forward to working with Cheryl and the selection committee throughout the 2023-24 season."
Vann, named to the preseason All-Big 12 team earlier this month, is the only player in Big 12 history to win the league's Sixth Player Award twice. An honorable mention All-Big 12 selection last season, she posted 11.5 points, a team-high 6.8 rebounds and a career-high 2.1 assists per game, and her 20 games of double-digit points a season ago were the most in the Big 12 among players without a start.
In the last 15 years of women's college basketball, there have only been two seasons in which a player with one or fewer starts has averaged 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game – Vann is responsible for both.
The Edmond, Okla., product is one of four Big 12 players on the watch list, joining Aijha Blackwell (Baylor), Lior Garzon (Oklahoma State) and Jordyn Merritt (Texas Tech).
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, Oct. 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.
The 2024 Cheryl Miller Award winner 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 (2021-23), Satou Sabally, Oregon (2020), Bridget Carleton, Iowa State (2019), and Gabby Williams, Connecticut (2018).
Oklahoma opens the 2023-24 season on Nov. 6 against Wichita State at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners' Big 12 slate begins on Dec. 30 when UCF comes to Norman.
Fans interested in buying tickets for the upcoming campaign can find more information at SoonerSports.com/BuyTickets or by calling the Oklahoma Athletics Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424.
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