AUSTIN (KXAN) — She was pushed into point guard duties halfway through the season, but Texas freshman Madison Booker was recognized as the best small forward in women’s college basketball Saturday.
Booker is the first freshman and Texas player to win the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
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“To be named the winner of an award named after the great Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller is very special,” Booker said. “I wouldn’t have the opportunities I have today in women’s basketball without players like Cheryl paving the way.”
Miller was a four-time All-American at Southern California from 1982-86, winning national player of the year three times, and she scored a national record 105 points in a high school game for Riverside Poly in California.
Booker was the first freshman to win the Big 12 player of the year award, sharing it with Oklahoma’s Skylar Vann this season. Booker was the Big 12 tournament’s most outstanding player in leading the Longhorns to the championship and she was named a Big 12 player of the week seven times with three national honors.
Texas won 33 games this season before losing to North Carolina State in the Elite Eight. That’s the most games the Longhorns have won in a single season since the 1985-86 national title run was a perfect 34-0 year under Jody Conradt.