Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith Finalist For Katrina McClain Award
Baylor forward NaLyssa Smith is a finalist for the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Award, released on Thursday.
Smith is the reigning McClain Award and Wade Trophy winner, the latter of which is given to the national player of the year. Smith is on the Wade watch list, along with the watch lists for the Naismith National Player of the Year award and the Wooden Award, another national player of the year award.
She was also named the Heartland College Sports Big 12 Player of the Year earlier this week.
Smith has 21 double-doubles this season, which is second in Baylor history, and is fifth in the country. She leads the Bears with 22.3 points and 11.7 rebounds going into the Big 12 Tournament, which starts on Thursday in Kansas City. The Bears will play their first game on Friday.
Smith was also the unanimous selection as Big 12 Player of the Year by the league’s coaches, becoming the fifth player in Big 12 history to do so.
The award is named for McClain, who was a two-time Kodak All-American and the WBCA National Player of the Year her senior season at Georgia. The two-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year finished her international career with two Olympic gold medals and one bronze, three FIBA World Championships medals, and five medals at the Goodwill Games, Pan Am Games, and World University Games.
2022 McClain Award Finalists
(Big 12 Players in Bold)
NaLyssa Smith, Baylor
Angel Reese, Maryland
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
