Naz Hillmon named B1G WBB Player of the Year

Submitted by Real Tackles Wear 77 on March 8th, 2021 at 6:55 PM

https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2021/03/michigans-naz-hillmon-named-bi…

Congrats to Naz. She is the first Michigan player to ever win the award, and just the second player ever to win B1G Freshman, Sixth Man and Player of the Year in their career. Only a junior, hope to see her run it back next year.

Anyone know what her prospects for All-American are, and if she's considered a WNBA draft early entry candidate?

DOBlue48

March 8th, 2021 at 7:06 PM ^

Congrats to Naz.  My wife got to have dinner with the team two years ago when they hosted a breast cancer survivor event.  She sat next to Naz.  My wife came away loving her.  She was engaged, curious and engaging.  She is a champion whether on the hardwood or not.

matty blue

March 8th, 2021 at 8:12 PM ^

a clear and obvious choice.

i was wondering aboutt early entry, too, but it turns out she's not eligible.  the wnba requires players to turn 22 during the year the draft takes place, and she won't turn 21 until april.

beyond that - i think she really loves the platform she gets at u of m.  she seems to love college.

i'll be really interested to see what she does next season.  she's improved in meaningful ways every offseason.  she's a better passer, better defender, and has bumped her free throw shooting, from 63% as a frosh to 74% now.  if she could pick up a little 10-foot jumper she'd be even more unstoppable.

T Bone

March 9th, 2021 at 7:48 AM ^

So happy that Naz has been given this well-deserved recognition! I look forward to being able to get back in Crisler this fall and watching her play with Coach Kim’s best recruiting class ever.

1VaBlue1

March 9th, 2021 at 8:19 AM ^

Nice!!  Congratulations to Naz for winning an award that has to be earned.  Not easy to be considered the best player in a league of good players.  And its a sign of righteous respect from competitors, conference leadership, and media.

oriental andrew

March 9th, 2021 at 9:35 AM ^

Also saw on BTN last night that she was voted as BTPOY by both the coaches and the media. It's unanimous! 

As a point of reference, it can be a split award as happened in 2018 (per the googles and BTN) when the coaches voted for osu's Kelsey Mitchell and media voted for Iowa's Megan Gustafson (also won national POY in 2019, apparently).