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IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa senior Megan Gustafson has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year, the USBWA announced Friday.
Gustafson will be formally presented with the award at the USBWA College Basketball Awards Dinner at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Monday, April 15.
Gustafson is the first Hawkeye and first Big Ten women’s basketball student-athlete to win the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. The USBWA has named a National Player of the Year since the 1987-88 season and the award was named for Meyers Drysdale, four-time All-American at UCLA from 1975-78, in 2012.
Yesterday, Gustafson earned AP National Player of the Year honors, becoming the first Big Ten women’s basketball student-athlete to receive national player of the year recognition of any kind since Purdue’s Stephanie White won the Wade Trophy and the Honda Sports Award in 1999.
This season, Gustafson led the nation in five categories, including points per game (27.9) and field goal percentage (69.6). She ended her career with 2,804 points and 1,460 rebounds. On Monday, Gustafson became just the fourth NCAA women’s basketball student-athlete and the first ever post player to score 1,000 or more points in a single season.
NATIONAL AWARDS TRACKER
- USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year Award
- AP National Player of the Year
- espnW National Player of the Year
- Senior Class Award Winner
- Lisa Leslie Top Center Award
- AP First Team All-American
- espnW First Team All-American
- WBCA First Team All-American
- United State Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) First Team All-American
Gustafson, a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, is also a finalist for the Naismith Trophy and the John R. Wooden Award.
