(Tucson, AZ) The James Naismith HoopHall awards were announced earlier today in Springfield Massachusetts.
They’re broken down by position with the names of the all-time greats that have played them.
The Nancy Lieberman Award (Old Dominion) for the best Point Guard, which Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon won. She will most likely be the top pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft.
The Cheryl Miller Award (Southern California) for the best Small Forward went to Oregon’s Satou Sabally. She also will be another first round pick in the WNBA Draft.
The Katrina McClain Award (Georgia) for the best Power Forward was awarded to another Oregon Duck, Ruthy Hebard.
The Lisa Leslie Award (Southern California) for the best Center went to the only non PAC-12 player Aliyah Boston of South Carolina.
Which brings us to the Ann Meyers – Drysdale Award (UCLA) for the best Shooting Guard that was awarded to Arizona’s Aari McDonald.
McDonald is the catalyst for Arizona on both ends of the court having also being named the PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Starting her career at the at the University of Washington, she was coached and began her development with Adia Barnes who was an assistant coach for the Huskies. WNBA guard Kelsey Plum who now plays for the Las Vegas Aces also helped menor McDonald.
When she left for Arizona, she sat out the year as part of the transferring rule but still was able to practice.
Along with other transfer players, the scout team was far more talented than the starters for the Wildcats in the 2017-18 season.
This past season, McDonald was able to play her natural shooting guard position with Penn State transfer Amari Carter playing point guard.
McDonald played in twenty nine games, missing the road trip to Utah and Colorado after suffering an ankle injury. She averaged just under thirty two minutes per game.
Her ability to slash and drive to the hoop as well as step back and shoot the jumper, McDonald shot 45.8% from the field and 27.8% beyond the arc.
Arizona was a very good free throw shooting team at 78% and McDonald just a tad higher at 79%.
This past season, the Wildcats had a much more balanced offense, so it wasn’t the Aari McDonald Show from the year previous. She checked out with a 20.6 scoring average which placed her tenth in the nation. McDonald currently holds the nations record for consecutive games scoring in double figures at 66.
Her 5.6 rebounds a game is exceptional and would often out hustle taller players for loose ball rebounds.
Defensively, she created havoc not only with her “in your face” on ball defense but also on the three quarter court trap that Coach Barnes implemented many times during the season. The 68 steals McDonald created validated her defensive prowess.
Without regard for her body, she invited contact all season on slashing penetrating drives in the lane where bodies would fly including her own.
McDonald’s all around game is complimented with her intense desire to win and keep all her teammates involved in the game. She finished with 105 assists.
Although the undisputed leader of the Wildcat a squad, she always modestly deflects her individual honors and success to her team and their collective efforts.
With the loss of the post season NCAA Tournament, she decided to return to Arizona for her red shirt senior season in 2020-21. The entire coaching staff was elated as well as the Wildcat fans that will get one more go around with her.
