SDSU Sports Information
HOPEWELL, N.J. — South Dakota State’s Brooklyn Meyer and Paige Meyer were named to the preseason watch list for the Becky Hammon Award on Wednesday. The award recognizes the top players in mid-major women’s basketball.
SDSU is one of three schools with multiple players on the preseason watch list.
Brooklyn Meyer, a junior, is the reigning Summit League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year after a breakout sophomore season. She averaged 16.8 points on the season and shot .588 from the floor. Her 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per contest in 2023-24 also led the Jackrabbits. Meyer scored at least 20 points nine times last season, including a career-high 29 twice — vs. South Carolina State and North Dakota State.
Paige Meyer, a senior, was a Summit League First Team selection last season and is the reigning Summit League Tournament MVP. She was second on the team in 2023-24 with 15.2 points per game while dishing a team-best 4.0 assists per contest. Meyer was .503 from the floor and .422 from the 3-point line on the season. She set a new career high and SDSU Division I record with 37 points at Northern Arizona.
The Meyer and Meyer duo are the first Jackrabbits to land on the Becky Hammon watch list since Myah Selland was a finalist for the award in 2023.
Award eligibility and schedule
To be eligible for this award, players must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be mid-major. The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, and SEC. Additionally, players from Oregon State and Washington State are ineligible this year as membership in the Pac-12 evolves.
The 15-player midseason watch list will be announced in January, followed by 10 semifinalists announced in February. The five finalists will be announced in early March, with the winner announced around the Final Four. The list is fluid, and players may play their way on or off it over the course of the season.
About Becky Hammon
Hammon was a three-time All-American at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999, the program’s only appearance to date. She was signed by the New York Liberty in 1999 and traded to the San Antonio Stars in 2007, where she played the rest of her career. Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016 she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was recently named to the W25.
Hammon became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Additionally, Hammon is the only woman to be a head coach in the NBA Summer League and the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff. Currently, Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and won the 2022 and 2023 WNBA Championships.
About Her Hoop Stats
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