SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced the five finalists for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award on Wednesday, and Tennessee’s Jaime Nared is on that list.
Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and 1995 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the annual award in its inaugural year recognizes the top small forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.Hall
Nared, a 6-foot-2 senior from Portland, Ore., joins Gabby Williams (Connecticut), Shakayla Thomas (Florida St.), Sophie Cunningham (Missouri) and Teana Muldrow (West Virginia) among the five finalists.
Named All-SEC First Team on Tuesday, Nared is averaging a team-leading 17.2 points and is second with 7.7 rebounds per game for the 12th-ranked Lady Vols, who enter the SEC Tournament with a 23-6 record. She is a two-time national player of the week and three-time SEC Player of the Week this season and won MVP honors at the Cancun Challenge.
Nared ranks first in the SEC and seventh-most in a season in Lady Vol history with 153 free throws made. She has connected on 43 of 50 tosses taken in the final four minutes of games this year.
She ranks fifth in the SEC and first for UT in steals (64) and sixth in the league in points per game and total points (499) and stands 10th in total rebounds (224). She is approaching 1,500 career points and just passed 700 rebounds for her career. This season, she has scored 20 or more points on 11 occasions and has nine double-doubles.
A national committee of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers narrowed the original award watch list of 20 players to 10 candidates and now just five finalists. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans are encouraged to visit www.HoophallAwards.com to cast their votes March 2-23.
“As someone who has been around the game as a player, coach, executive or analyst for virtually my entire life, I’m really excited about the direction of the women’s game” said Cheryl Miller. “The Basketball Hall of Fame is representative of men and women at all levels of the game, and I’m happy to be a part of the awards that will recognize these tremendous student-athletes.”
The winner of the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award will be announced during ESPN2’s telecast of the national semifinal games in the 2018 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, March 30. The award will then be presented to the student-athlete on Saturday, March 31 at a new awards reception presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame and the WBCA and held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Each award will be presented by its respective Hall of Famer making this brunch a star-studded event.
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, as well as the Wade Trophy, the sport’s oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award which is presented annually by the WBCA’s community of coaches to the best player in college women’s basketball.
For more information on the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award, visit www.hoophallawards.com.
About Cheryl Miller: Cheryl Miller took women’s basketball to a new level, literally and figuratively. With her tremendous leaping ability, athletic dexterity and grace, Miller established a legacy throughout her high school and college career that is unparalleled. Playing for Riverside Polytechnic High School (CA), in 1982, Miller set the single game scoring record of 105 points. As a collegiate forward at the University of Southern California from 1982 to 1986, Miller helped bring women’s basketball to the forefront of American sports. In 1984, she led the Olympic team to gold averaging more than 16 points per game. Her superior athletic ability and engaging persona placed her among the elite in the world of college and professional athletics. In 1986, Sports Illustrated named Miller as the best male or female player in college basketball. In a spectacular career, Miller scored 3,018 total career points and was a four-time All-America. Miller was named Naismith Player of the Year three times and earned the Wade Trophy once. Miller was indicted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010. Since retiring from professional play, Miller has had a very successful career as a WNBA GM, professional and collegiate coach, and sportscaster for TNT, ESPN and NBC for the 1996 Olympics.
