Dye Among 10 On Katrina McClain Award Watch List

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced Thursday the 10 watch list candidates for the 2022 Katrina McClain Award, and Tennessee's Alexus Dye is among them.

Named after the two-time All-American and 1987 National Player of the Year, the annual award in its fifth year recognizes the top power forwards in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in November, which has now been narrowed to 10.

Dye, a 6-0 forward from Birmingham, Ala., is averaging 8.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest, scoring in double figures on 10 occasions and carding three double-doubles for the No. 13/10-ranked Big Orange.

One of only three UT players to start all 23 games this season, she has played a key role in the Lady Vols standing at 19-4 overall and 8-2 in SEC play despite injuries that knocked two key players out for the season and caused another to miss 12 games.

College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In late February, the watch list of 10 players for the 2022 Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Award will be narrowed to five. In March those finalists will be presented to Ms. McClain and the Hall of Fame's selection committee where a winner will be selected.

The winner of the 2022 Katrina McClain 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 Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men's Starting Five.

For more information on the 2022 Katrina McClain Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #McClainAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, February 11.

2022 Katrina McClain Award Candidates*
Cameron Brink / Stanford
Lorela Cubaj / Georgia Tech
Alexus Dye / Tennessee
Lauren Gustin / BYU
Naz Hillmon / Michigan
Bethy Mununga / South Florida
Angel Reese / Maryland
Nyara Sabally / Oregon
Maddy Siegrist / Villanova
NaLyssa Smith / Baylor

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

About Katrina McClain-Pittman
Katrina McClain-Pittman was a prolific rebounder and terrific scorer in a career that spanned three Olympic Games and three continents. Before she earned her stripes for USA Basketball, McClain-Pittman starred at the University of Georgia where she was a two-time Kodak All-American and the WBCA National Player of the Year her senior season. She left Georgia as the school's second all-time leading scorer and rebounder, averaging a double-double her final two seasons in Athens. The Lady Bulldogs reached the 1985 NCAA Final Four and national championship game with McClain-Pittman controlling the paint and Teresa Edwards running the offense.

The two-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year finished her international career with two Olympic gold medals and one bronze, three FIBA World Championships medals, and five medals at the Goodwill Games, Pan Am Games, and World University Games. In all, McClain-Pittman appeared on eleven USA Basketball rosters becoming one of the most decorated athletes in USA Basketball history.

She has been inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, the Georgia State Hall of Fame, and the National High School Hall of Fame, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Alexus Dye

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