Onyenwere Named Top-5 Finalist for Cheryl Miller Award
Springfield, Mass. – UCLA senior forward Michaela Onyenwere has been named a top-five finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Wednesday.
The original watch list of 20 candidates was narrowed to the current list of five finalists. This month, the finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The winner of the 2021 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame's selection committee. Naismith Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, March. 5 on hoophallawards.com.
Onyenwere is set to graduate from UCLA as one of the program's all-time greats. She was named an All-Pac-12 honoree for the third-consecutive season, becoming UCLA's first three-time honoree since Jordin Canada (2016-18). The senior is averaging 18.2 points per game and has moved into ninth place on UCLA's all-time scoring list with 1,776 points. The Aurora, Colo., native has notched five double-doubles on the year, including a dominant performance against Oregon (Jan. 3) that saw her post a career-high 33 points to go with 10 boards. She most recently scored 30 points on Senior Night against USC (Feb. 26), going 6-for-6 from long range to help the Bruins knock down a team-record 16 triples. The preseason AP All-American has helped UCLA to a 14-4 record and a first-round bye in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament.
The winner of the 2021 Cheryl Miller Award will be presented on ESPN, along with the four other members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional information regarding the award presentation, including date and time, will be released in the coming weeks.
2021 Cheryl Miller Award Finalists
Rennia Davis, Tennessee
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Ashley Joens, Iowa State
Haley Jones, Stanford
Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA