Nicole Cardaño-Hillary Named To Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Preseason Watch List
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Redshirt junior guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary has been named one of 20 shooting guards named to the Ann Meyer Drysdale Award preseason watch list, announced on Tuesday by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
Cardaño-Hillary played her first three seasons at George Mason before transferring to Indiana in the 2020 offseason. She became Mason’s all-time leading scorer in 2019-20, scoring 1,766 career points. She started in all 30 games and scored in double figures 27 times and had 11 20+ point games. An Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team selection, Cardaño-Hillary averaged 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Previously, Cardaño-Hillary was the A-10 Player of the Year (2018-19) and the A-10 Rookie of the Year (2017-18) at George Mason.
College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In early February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award will be narrowed to just 10. In early March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. Meyers Drysdale and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.
The winner of the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented on Friday, April 9, 2021, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward 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 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award include Aari McDonald, Arizona (2020), Asia Durr, Louisville (2019) and Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State (2018).
For more information on the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MeyersAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, November 13.
2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Candidates*
| Aari McDonald | Arizona |
| Chelsea Dungee | Arkansas |
| DiJonai Carrington | Baylor |
| Christyn Williams | Connecticut |
| Sonya Morris | DePaul |
| Jill Townsend | Gonzaga |
| Nicole Cardaño-Hillary | Indiana |
| Dana Evans | Louisville |
| Ashley Owusu | Maryland |
| Jakia Brown-Turner | NC State |
| Lindsey Pulliam | Northwestern |
| Taylor Robertson | Oklahoma |
| Taylor Mikesell | Oregon |
| Arella Guirantes | Rutgers |
| Zia Cooke | South Carolina |
| Kiana Williams | Stanford |
| Kiara Lewis | Syracuse |
| Destiny Pitts | Texas A&M |
| Charisma Osborne | UCLA |
| Brynna Maxwell | Utah |
*Players can play their way onto and off of the list at any point in the 2020-21 season
About Ann Meyers Drysdale:
Ann Meyers Drysdale’s career escalated women’s basketball to a new level. She was the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full four-year athletic scholarship to UCLA. Her high-octane approach translated into wins and awards and she finished her impressive career at UCLA owning 12 of 13 school records including becoming the first player to record a quadruple double in UCLA history. A supremely talented all-around player with natural basketball ability and instincts, Meyers Drysdale was the first player, male or female, named to an All-America team in four straight seasons and was named Player of the Year during her senior year. While still at UCLA, she started on the first women’s Olympic team in 1976. After an All-America career, she became the first player drafted into the Women’s Basketball League, earning WBL MVP and making history by becoming the first female player to tryout with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers, with whom she signed a free agent contract. Meyers Drysdale pushed the envelope in women’s basketball, bringing a feel and sense for the game that few players ever exhibited. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2012, Meyers Drysdale became one of the first annual naming honorees on the women’s side of the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) with the organization’s National Women’s Player of the Year. Since retiring from professional play, she has had a very successful career as an NBA and WNBA executive, as well as a color commentator for the NBA, WNBA and the Olympic Games in 1984, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. In 2005 she received the ASAMA Ronald Reagan Media Award and in 2019, she was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Pac-12 Hall of Honor.
