HOPEWELL, N.J. – Arkansas State’s Izzy Higginbottom was named as one of 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats, the organization announced on Wednesday.
This year’s list of semifinalists includes representatives from 10 teams and nine conferences.
In her second season suited up for the Red Wolves, Izzy Higginbottom is averaging a conference-high 23.4 points per game, a mark that ranks sixth nationally. The junior guard has scored 20+ points in 15 of 23 games this season and has reached the 30-point mark a Sun Belt-best seven times.
The Batesville, Ark., native, is also one of the most efficient players in the Sun Belt, connecting on 172-of-359 (.479) from the field, the fifth-best mark in the conference. Higginbottom has been hard to guard as opponents have sent her to the line for 174 attempts, which is currently ranked for second most attempts in the NCAA. Additionally, Higginbottom has gone for 159-of-174 (.914) from the charity stripe, also good for second in the Sun Belt and seventh nationally.
The five finalists will be announced in early March and the winner will be announced around the Final Four. The list is fluid and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the season.
Hammon was a three-time All-American during her career at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999, the program's only appearance to date. She was signed by the New York Liberty in 1999 and traded to the San Antonio Stars in 2007, where she played the rest of her career.
Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016 she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was recently named to the W25.
Hammon became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Additionally, Hammon is the only woman to be a head coach in the NBA Summer League as well as the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff.
Currently, Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and won the 2022 and 2023 WNBA Championships.
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. It began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments.
Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game providing content through its newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).