NCAA BASKETBALL
What is the March Madness Naismith trophy? How are the winners decided?
The annual basketball award offered by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men’s and women’s collegiate basketball players named in honor of James Naismith.
The March Madness Naismith trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding men’s and women’s basketball player, men’s and women’s college basketball coach, and men’s and women’s defensive player who achieves tremendous on-court success.
James Naismith invented the game of basketball in 1891. He was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, and sports coach. Naismith was born and raised near Almonte, Ontario, and studied and taught physical education at McGill University in Montreal.
After moving to Springfield, Massachusetts, he officially designed the game and founded the University of Kansas basketball program.
How are the winners decided?
The finalists appear from a group of 10 semifinalists by the NCAA rules. They are selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s national voting academy, composed of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, former award winners, and conference commissioners, all of whom base their selections on outstanding on-court performances during the regular college basketball season. The next round of voting runs in the second half of March, with the winner being announced live on CBS Sports Network.
Duke University has won eight Naismith trophies in the Men’s Player of the Year category, while UConn has won eleven Naismith trophies in the Women’s Player of the Year category.
Since its inception in 1969, the trophy has been awarded to 44 male and 24 female players. Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Anne Donovan of Old Dominion University were the first winners, respectively. Bill Walton of UCLA and Ralph Sampson of the University of Virginia were the only men to win this award multiple times, with both winning three times. Eight women in all have won this award multiple times.
The award has been won by a freshman four times: Kevin Durant playing for Texas in 2007, in 2012 by Anthony Davis of Kentucky, Zion Williamson of Duke in 2019, and Paige Bueckers of UConn in 2021.