– Paige Bueckers, JuJu Watkins, and Madison Booker Repeat as Award Winners –
SAN ANTONIO — In the present day, on ESPN’s School GameDay protection of the NCAA Males’s and Girls’s Remaining 4 in San Antonio, the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame revealed this yr’s positional award winners. The awards acknowledge the preeminent school basketball participant at every place, also referred to as the Naismith Beginning 5. The winners have been decided by a mixture of enter from committees composed of high basketball personnel and Beginning 5 Fan Voting.
The Corridor of Fame choice committees, which included media members, coaches, sports activities info administrators, and Corridor of Famers, decided the preseason watch listing of 20 candidates in October. The listing was narrowed to 10 candidates in February and 5 candidates in March earlier than figuring out the winner. All season lengthy, gamers have been capable of play their approach into award consideration.
“The Basketball Corridor of Fame is proud to have fun the very best within the recreation at each degree, each women and men,” mentioned John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame. “The coed-athletes receiving our Beginning 5 Awards exemplify the expertise and character of the Corridor of Famers these awards are named in honor of. We acknowledge this excellent group as the subsequent technology of basketball stars, and are assured they are going to proceed to excel in all they do. In the present day, we have fun their achievements as we formally identify them the Males’s and Girls’s 2025 Naismith Beginning 5.”
2025 Males’s Naismith Beginning 5:
Braden Smith (Purdue) – Bob Cousy (Level Guard) Award
Chaz Lanier (Tennessee) – Jerry West (Taking pictures Guard) Award
Cooper Flagg (Duke) – Julius Erving (Small Ahead) Award
Johni Broome (Auburn) – Karl Malone (Energy Ahead) Award
Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton) – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Middle) Award
2025 Girls’s Naismith Beginning 5:
Paige Bueckers (UConn) – Nancy Lieberman(Level Guard) Award (two-time winner: 2021)
JuJu Watkins (USC) – Anne Meyers Drysdale (Taking pictures Guard) Award (two-time winner: 2024)
Madison Booker (Texas) – Cheryl Miller (Small Ahead) Award (two-time winner: 2024)
Aneesah Morrow (LSU) – Katrina McClain (Energy Ahead) Award
Lauren Betts (UCLA) – Lisa Leslie (Middle) Award
Quotes from Males’s Naismith Beginning 5 Award Winners and Corridor of Famers
“I’m honored to be the recipient of the Bob Cousy Award and wish to thank the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame and Mr. Cousy for this award. I’d additionally wish to shout out my teammates, coaches, and help workers for his or her belief and confidence in me this season. To be included among the many elite gamers which have gained this award could be very humbling, and I’m grateful to be chosen to hitch that prestigious group.” – Braden Smith, Bob Cousy Award Winner (#CousyAward)
“I wish to begin by thanking the West household and the choice committee for naming me the recipient of this unbelievable distinction. It’s a true privilege to win the Jerry West Award, and I’m deeply honored. I’d not be on this place with out God and the help of my household, my coaches, my teammates, and the followers. Representing the College of Tennessee this yr has been particular, and this accolade isn’t just about me, however about all of us who contributed to such an superior season.” – Chaz Lanier, Jerry West Award Winner (#WestAward)
“I’m extremely honored to obtain this recognition. Julius Erving is likely one of the biggest to ever play the sport, so to obtain that is unbelievably humbling. I’m grateful to my coaches, teammates, household, and everybody who has supported me alongside the way in which. My final objective is to assist my crew win a nationwide championship, and this acknowledgment simply motivates me to maintain working and enhancing daily.” – Cooper Flagg, Julius Erving Award Winner (#ErvingAward)
“I’m humbled and honored to be chosen because the 2025 Karl Malone Energy Ahead of the Yr Award winner. There are such a lot of folks to thank, however most significantly, the person above, my household, coaches, and teammates. Their help, encouragement, and improvement helped me change into the particular person and participant I’m right now. I wish to thank the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame, Mr. Malone, and the choice committee for this honor.” – Johni Broome, Karl Malone Award Winner (#MaloneAward)
“I’m humbled and honored to obtain the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. Kareem is likely one of the all-time legends, not solely within the recreation of basketball, however as a frontrunner off the courtroom as properly. I thank my teammates and coaches for placing me able for fulfillment and to these with the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame for this prestigious recognition.” – Ryan Kalkbrenner, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Winner (#KareemAward)
Quotes from Girls’s Naismith Beginning 5 Award Winners and Corridor of Famers
“Nancy Lieberman is a legend and a trailblazer in our sport, and it’s an honor to obtain this award. I wouldn’t be on this place with out the exhausting work and help of my teammates. They deserve numerous credit score, and I share this honor with them as a result of with out my crew, I wouldn’t be on this spot. It’s humbling to bookmark my school profession with the Nancy Lieberman Award.” – Paige Bueckers, Nancy Lieberman Award Winner (#LiebermanAward)
“It’s a true honor to be chosen for this award, which is a particular one as a result of it celebrates Ann Meyers Drysdale, a legend in our recreation, and it means lots to me to obtain this prestigious award. Thanks, and Combat On!” – JuJu Watkins, Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Winner (#MeyersAward)
“At the start I wish to thank God for the chance and abilities he has blessed me with. Additionally, I wish to thank the committee for choosing me for this award. It’s an honor to earn an award with the identify Cheryl Miller on it as a result of I understand how a lot she has meant to the sport. I wish to thank my teammates and coaches as I wouldn’t have obtained this award with out their help and encouragement.” – Madison Booker, Cheryl Miller Award Winner (#MillerAward)
“It’s an immense honor to obtain the Katrina McClain Award, a testomony to the perseverance, ardour, and dedication that basketball has instilled in me. To face on the shoulders of giants and be acknowledged for this award is a humbling reminder that goals, regardless of how bold, are all the time inside attain.” – Aneesah Morrow, Katrina McClain Award Winner (#McClainAward)
“The truth that I’m even up for an award like that is actually significant to me. Clearly there’s numerous work that I’ve put into this, and it has lots to do with this system that I’m at, however I don’t take an award like this without any consideration and it’s actually appreciated.” – Lauren Betts, Lisa Leslie Award Winner (#LeslieAward)
For extra info, go to HoophallAwards.com or comply with @hoophallU on Instagram and X.
Concerning the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame
Positioned in Springfield, Massachusetts, town the place basketball was born, the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame is an unbiased non-profit 501(c)(3) group devoted to selling, preserving, and celebrating the sport of basketball at each degree—women and men, newbie {and professional} gamers, coaches, and contributors—each domestically and internationally. The Corridor of Fame museum is dwelling to greater than 475 inductees and over 40,000 sq. toes of basketball historical past. Almost 200,000 folks go to the Corridor of Fame museum every year to be taught concerning the recreation, expertise the interactive displays, and check their abilities on the Jerry Colangelo “Courtroom of Goals.” Finest recognized for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the sport’s elite, the Corridor of Fame additionally operates over 70 highschool and collegiate competitions yearly all through the nation and overseas. For extra info on the Basketball Corridor of Fame group, its museum, and occasions, go to hoophall.com and comply with @hoophallU.
