Michigan's Naz Hillmon named Big Ten Player of the Year in women's basketball

Michigan women's basketball standout Naz Hillmon was named Big Ten Player of the Year by the coaches and media Monday, the first Wolverines player ever to earn the honor.

Hillmon averaged 25.1 points and 11.3 rebounds this season, shooting 64.5% from the floor. The junior was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year two years ago and Sixth Player of the Year in 2020.

The Gophers' Jasmine Powell was a second-team selection by the coaches and named honorable mention by the media, while Sara Scalia was honorable mention on both teams. Powell and Scalia were tied for the team lead averaging 14.5 points per game. Powell is also averaging 5.4 assists (third in the Big Ten), 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

The media and coaches matched on all major awards. Maryland's Brenda Frese was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth time, having previously won the award in 2002 with the Gophers and 2015 and '19 with the Terrapins.

Clark, who averaged a Big Ten-best 27.4 points along with 6.8 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals, was named Freshman of the Year.

Northwestern's Veronica Burton was Defensive Player of the Year and Penn State's Maddie Burke was Sixth Player of the Year.

Hillmon was one of three players unanimously selected to both media and coaches first teams, joining Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Maryland's Ashley Owusu. Arella Guirantes of Rutgers was a unanimous selection of the media as well.

The coaches and media first teams were identical, except that the coaches' first team had 11 players with the addition of Ohio State's Dorka Juhasz. The other first-team selections were Burton, Indiana's Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes, Iowa's Monika Czinano, Maryland's Diamond Miller and Michigan State's Nia Clouden.