by SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – University at Buffalo women’s basketball senior forward Summer Hemphill (Seneca Nation) has been named to the Katrina McClain Award watch list, the Basketball Hall of Fame announced Thursday afternoon.
Named after the two-time All-American and 1987 National Player of the Year, the annual award in its third year recognizes the top power forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.
The Selection Committee for the Katrina McClain Award is composed of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers. New to the award this season is Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2020 Katrina McClain Award will be narrowed to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. McClain-Pittman and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.
The winner of the 2020 Katrina McClain Power Forward Award will be presented at TheCollegeBasketballAwardspresented by Wendy’s in Los Angeles, CA on Friday, April 10, 2020, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.
Hemphill was named second-team All-MAC last season after averaging career-highs in minutes (36.6), points (14.5) and rebounds (10.3) while making 58.1% of her field goal attempts and 73.7% of her free throw attempts. The Buffalo, NY native was also selected to the MAC All-Tournament team after setting a MAC Tournament record with 21 rebounds and 16 points in the win over Ohio in the championship game. Hemphill is currently tied for 10th on the career rebounds list at UB with 759 and is just 81 points away from becoming Buffalo’s 26th 1,000 point scorer.
For more information on the 2020 Katrina McClain Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #McClainAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, October 25. Click here to vote.
Buffalo will host an exhibition against Mercyhurst on Friday, November 1, at 7pm. The Bulls will open the regular season on Tuesday, November 5, as the welcome Central Connecticut State to Alumni Arena at 7pm.
