Murray State University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Young Named To Becky Hammon Watch List
1/19/2022 10:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Racer is one of 15 mid-major players under consideration for award
Sophomore Katelyn Young of the Murray State women's basketball was just one of 15 players nationally to be named to the 2021-22 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watch List, as announced by Her Hoop Stats Wednesday.
In total, 15 players representing 13 conferences were selected to the midseason edition of the list. Young was the only player on the list from the Ohio Valley Conference, while future Missouri Valley Conference foe Missouri State placed junior forward Jasmine Franklin on the list. South Dakota's Ciara Duffy was named as the inaugural winner of the award in 2020, while FGCU's Kierstan Bell earned the award last season.
The Oakwood, Illinois native is off to a monster start to her sophomore campaign, as she currently leads the Racers and the OVC in points per game and rebounds per game at 20.3 and 7.9, respectively. She also currently ranks in the top 10 of several national statistical categories including fifth in field goal-percentage at 52.8, sixth in free throws made at 87, seventh in total points at 345 and ninth in field goals made at 125.
Additionally, her 20.3 points per game rank 16th in the nation, while 84.5 free-throw percentage ranks 54th. Earlier this season, Young became the first Racer to ever go a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor in a single-game, in addition to turning in the second-best single-game free throw performance at 13-for-13.
To be eligible for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player if of the Year 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, Pac-12, and SEC. In October, 25 players were named to the preseason watch list. The 10 semifinalists will be announced in February, with five finalists being announced in early March. The winner will be announced in late March.
Now in its third year, the award is named for current Las Vegas Aces head coach and former San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon. As a player, Hammon was a three-time All-American for Colorado State and went onto to play 16 seasons in the WNBA where she was a six-time WNBA All-Star and two time All-WNBA first team selection.
In coaching, Hammon continued to break barriers as she became the second-ever female assistant coach in the WNBA when she was hired by the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Over the next eight years, Hammon became the first woman to ever serve as head coach in the NBA Summer League and the first woman to serve on an All-Star team coaching staff. In January of 2022, Hammon left the Spurs to return to the WNBA as head coach of the Aces.
With Young's placement on the Hammon watch list, Murray State became just one of five schools nationally to have players under consideration for both the women's Mid-Major Player of the Year award, and its male counterpart, the Lou Henson Award. Earlier this month, Tevin Brown of the men's basketball team was placed on the Henson watch list, allowing the Racers to join Florida Gulf Coast, Missouri State, Navy and Princeton as the only schools with players on both lists.
