Walton One of 15 Players Named to Becky Hammon Player of the Year Midseason Watch List

HOPEWELL, N.J. (January 21, 2026) — Redshirt junior Zahirah Walton has been named to the 15-player midseason watch list for the 2025 Becky Hammon Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. The Becky Hammon Award was first given out in 2020, and Harvard’s Harmoni Turner won the most recent award in 2025. 

Walton has been a steady offensive leader for George Mason throughout the season, consistently producing in double figures. Through games played as of Jan. 20, Walton is averaging 19.8 points per game, ranking among the top scorers nationally, and has totaled 336 points on the year while shooting 46.2 percent from the field. She has recorded multiple season-high performances, highlighted by strong outings against nationally ranked opponents, including Princeton, Ole Miss, and Maryland, where she continued to serve as the Patriots’ primary scoring option. Walton is 20th in the nation in scoring and 11th in free throw attempts. 

This year’s midseason list includes representatives from 15 teams and 13 conferences. Two conferences – the A-10 and Summit League – placed two players on the watch list. South Dakota State’s Brooklyn Meyer is the lone player making their second appearance on a midseason watch list this season, previously being named to the 2025 iteration. 

Award Eligibility & 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 remain ineligible this year. 

The 25-player preseason watch list was announced in October, and 10 semifinalists will be 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 named to the W25 in 2021. 

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 has won the 2022, 2023 and 2025 WNBA Championships. 

About Her Hoop Stats 

Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women’s basketball at all levels. We began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women’s basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women’s game providing content through our newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram).