The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame have revealed the Top 10 contenders for the 2024 Cheryl Miller Award, and Rickea Jackson of Tennessee has made the list once more.
Jackson, a 6-foot-2 fifth-year player from Detroit, Michigan, made her third career selection to the top 10. She advanced to the top 10 in 2020–21 as a sophomore and was a top–five finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award in 2022–23 as a senior.
It is in its eighth year, and the annual award, named for the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and Class of 1995 Hall of Famer, honors the best small forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.
Jackson, Madison Booker (Texas), Mara Braun (Minnesota), McKenzie Forbes (USC), Yarden Garzon (Indiana), Kiki Jefferson (Louisville), Jordan King (Marquette), Cotie McMahon (Ohio State), Aneesah Morrow (LSU), and Alyssa Ustby (North Carolina) are among the top ten 2024 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award contenders. At any time throughout the 2023–24 season, players can move up and down the list by playing.
Jackson is averaging 19.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest this season with three double-doubles and double-figure scoring in all 10 games she’s played. After missing eight games due to injury from Nov. 13 to Dec. 10, during which the Lady Vols went 4-4 against a juggernaut schedule, Jackson returned to action on Dec. 19 vs. Wofford. Since then, Tennessee has gone 7-1, improving its overall record to 12-6 and its SEC mark to 5-1 to stand in a tie for second place.
Jackson has led the Big Orange in her last eight games with 18.3 points per game and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 78 percent from the free-throw line and 45 percent from the field. On January 9, she was named the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week. She also won Player of the Week honors from the Tennessee Sports Writers Association and the SEC. She accomplished this after winning conference games against Auburn and Kentucky, averaging 25.5 points and 13.0 rebounds, dishing out 2.0 assists per game, and shooting 54.3 percent from the field, 40 percent from beyond the arc, and 73.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Through Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, which opens on Friday, January 26, at hoophallawards.com, fans may support their favorite players in the remaining rounds. During the finalist selection process, the Fan Vote will be considered one committee vote.
Miller and the Hall of Fame selection committee will receive five finalists in March. Top women’s collegiate basketball administrators, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers make up the Selection Committee for the Cheryl Miller Award.
The remaining four members of the Women’s Starting Five will be presented at an undisclosed date, along with the 2024 Cheryl Miller Award winner. Together with the Men’s Starting Five, other honors being given out are the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward), and Lisa Leslie Award (Center).
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