April 16, 2011
Premier Player Award Photo Gallery
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – University of Iowa senior guard Kachine Alexander was named the winner of the first annual Premier Player of College Basketball Award Saturday. She accepted the award at a luncheon in downtown Charlotte, N.C. The Premier Player of College Basketball Award winner is based strictly on fan voting.
“I am very honored to receive this award,” Alexander said. “I would like to thank all the great Iowa fans who voted for me. Without their support, this wouldn’t have been possible. I would also like to thank the people involved with Premier Players. The experience out here in Charlotte has been great. This is a great way to wrap up my four years as a Hawkeye. I had the opportunity to play with great teammates and had amazing coaches in my time at Iowa. This award belongs to them as much as it does to me.”
Alexander’s named appeared on the original Premier Players ballot in November. She was among the top five student-athletes in fan voting during the season, making her one of five finalists. The other finalists included Chastity Reed (Arkansas Little Rock), Elena Delle Donne (Delaware), Jasmine Thomas (Duke) and Maya Moore (Connecticut).
The five finalists were placed in a new poll so fans could vote for the winner of the 2011 Premier Player of College Basketball Award. Fans had until April 4 to cast their vote.
“Fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes are definitely voters,” said Carnell Moore, CEO and Publisher of Premier Players. “Ricky Stanzi received the second-most votes for our football award this fall, and now Kachine is the first winner of the basketball award. Kachine faced some very tough competition in our poll and the award could have gone to anyone. We are happy to have Kachine win this award. She is a great player, and I look forward to working with a great university like Iowa in the future.”
Alexander arrived in Charlotte Friday night in preparation for the awards ceremony. After an introduction by Moore about Premier Players and its charitable work with orphanages around the country, highlight videos of both the men’s and women’s finalists were shown. Jeff Beaver, the Executive Director of the Charlotte Sports Commission, then revealed to the audience that Alexander was the winner.
Alexander can now add the Premier Player of College Basketball trophy to her already impressive mantle. She received more All-America honors than any other Hawkeye women’s basketball player, earning honorable mention accolades by the Associated Press and WBCA in both her junior and senior seasons. She was a two-time first team all-Big Ten and all-Defensive team selection, and became the 11th Hawkeye in school history to be selected in the WNBA Draft, going 26th overall to her hometown Minnesota Lynx.
Alexander is Iowa’s second finalist this year for a Premier Player Award. Ricky Stanzi was a finalist for the first-ever Premier Player of College Football Award, won by Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett.