Burrell Named To Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List

Tennessee senior guard/forward Rae Burrell is among 20 players named as preseason watch list candidates for the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced on Wednesday.

Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and Class of 1995 Hall of Famer, the annual award in its fifth year recognizes the top small forwards in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. Burrell's now-graduated teammate, Rennia Davis, finished in the top five for the award in 2020-21.

"The student-athletes named to the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year watch list have worked tremendously hard and should be proud of all they have achieved," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. "Cheryl has long been recognized as one of the greatest athletes to ever play our game after an absolutely dominant career at USC and winning a pair of NCAA Championships. We are very much looking forward to working with her alongside our own selection committee in evaluating talent throughout the 2021-22 season."

An All-SEC Second Team performer in 2020-21, Burrell averaged 16.8 ppg. and 4.6 rpg. and hit double figures in 22 of 25 contests. She shot 45.8 percent on field goals, 40.2 on three-pointers and 82.5 percent from the free-throw line, all easily career bests. The 6-foot-1 Las Vegas native fired in 15 or more points 17 times and hit 20+ on seven occasions, leading UT in the first two categories and ranking second in the third a year ago.

Burrell, who on Tuesday was named to the 2021-22 Coaches Preseason All-SEC First Team, is the fifth-best returning scorer in the SEC and is No. 1 in free throw percentage, No. 2 in three-point field goal percentage and No. 7 in field goal percentage. She is ranked No. 24 in ESPN's 2021-22 Women's College Basketball Player Rankings.

Basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2022 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame's selection committee, where a winner will be selected.

The winner of the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men's Starting Five.

Previous winners of the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award include Ashley Joens, Iowa State (2021), Satou Sabally, Oregon (2020), Bridget Carleton, Iowa State (2019) and Gabby Williams, Connecticut (2018).

For more information on the 2021 Cheryl Miller Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MillerAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, October 29.

2022 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award Candidates*

Sam Thomas	Arizona
Taylor Soule	Boston College
Elizabeth Balogun	Duke
Grace Berger	Indiana
Ashley Jones	Iowa State
Rhyne Howard	Kentucky
Emily Engstler	Louisville
Laura Van Kleunen	Marquette
Chloe Bibby	Maryland
Rickea Jackson	Mississippi St.
Alyssa Utsby	North Carolina
Erica Johnson	Ohio
Madi Williams	Oklahoma
Andra Espinoza-Hunter	Seton Hall
Myah Selland	South Dakota State
Haley Jones	Stanford
Mia Davis	Temple
Rae Burrell	Tennessee
Kayla Wells	Texas A&M
Vivian Gray	Texas Tech

*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2021-22 season

About Cheryl Miller:
Cheryl Miller took women's basketball to a new level, literally and figuratively. With her tremendous leaping ability, athletic dexterity and grace, Miller established a legacy throughout her high school and college career that is unparalleled. Playing for Riverside Polytechnic High School (CA), in 1982, Miller set the single game scoring record of 105 points. As a collegiate forward at the University of Southern California from 1982 to 1986, Miller helped bring women's basketball to the forefront of American sports. In 1984, she led the Olympic team to gold averaging more than 16 points per game. Her superior athletic ability and engaging persona placed her among the elite in the world of college and professional athletics. In 1986, Sports Illustrated named Miller as the best male or female player in college basketball. In a spectacular career, Miller scored 3,018 total career points and was a four-time All-America. Miller was named Naismith Player of the Year three times and earned the Wade Trophy once. Miller was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010. Since retiring from professional play, Miller has had a very successful career as a WNBA GM, professional and collegiate coach, and sportscaster for TNT, ESPN and NBC for the 1996 Olympics.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Burrell Named To Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List

Players Mentioned

Rae Burrell

Rennia Davis

Related Videos