# USBWA National Freshman of the Year

The USBWA National Freshman of the Year, with the men's and women's versions respectively named the Wayman Tisdale Award and Tamika Catchings Award, is an annual basketball award given to college basketball's most outstanding freshman male player and female player by the United States Basketball Writers Association, an association of college basketball journalists. The award was first given following the 1988–89 season for men, while the 2002–03 season marked the first season for the women's award.
There has never been a tie for the men's award, but there have been two for the women, with Tasha Humphrey of Georgia and Candice Wiggins of Stanford sharing the 2004–05 award and Paige Bueckers of UConn and Caitlin Clark of Iowa sharing honors in 2020–21. Only four players have been named the National Player of the Year (by receiving the Naismith or Wooden awards for either men or women) in the same season as being named the USBWA Freshman of the Year. Among men's players, Kevin Durant of Texas was the first in 2006–07, followed by Anthony Davis of Kentucky in 2011–12 and Zion Williamson of Duke in 2018–19. The first woman to receive both honors was Bueckers in 2020–21. Chris Jackson and Seimone Augustus, the two inaugural award winners for the men and women, respectively, were coincidentally both players at LSU.
On July 26, 2010, the USBWA announced that they would rename the men's National Freshman of the Year award after the late Wayman Tisdale, who in 1983 was named a first-team All-American as a freshman at Oklahoma. The women's award was officially named in honor of Tamika Catchings on October 17, 2019. As a freshman at Tennessee in 1997–98, she averaged 18.2 points for the undefeated national champion Lady Volunteers. Catchings went on to be named a three-time USBWA All-American and the organization's national player of the year in 2000 before playing 16 seasons in the WNBA, retiring as the league's all-time leader in rebounds, steals, and made free throws, plus second in points. She also won four Olympic gold medals with the USA national team.

## Key

| † | Co-National Freshman of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national player of the year award as a freshman: the Naismith College Player of the Year or the John R. Wooden Award |

## Winners

Men :
| Season | Player | School | Position | Reference |
| 1988–89 | Chris Jackson | LSU | PG | |
| 1989–90 | Kenny Anderson | Georgia Tech | PG | |
| 1990–91 | Rodney Rogers | Wake Forest | F | |
| 1991–92 | Chris Webber | Michigan | C | |
| 1992–93 | Jason Kidd | California | PG | |
| 1993–94 | Joe Smith | Maryland | PF / C | |
| 1994–95 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1995–96 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1996–97 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1997–98 | Larry Hughes | Saint Louis | SG | |
| 1998–99 | Quentin Richardson | DePaul | SF / SG | |
| 1999–00 | Jason Gardner | Arizona | PG | |
| 2000–01 | Eddie Griffin | Seton Hall | C | |
| 2001–02 | T. J. Ford | Texas | PG | |
| 2002–03 | Carmelo Anthony | Syracuse | SF | |
| 2003–04 | Luol Deng | Duke | SF | |
| 2004–05 | Marvin Williams | North Carolina | PF | |
| 2005–06 | Tyler Hansbrough | North Carolina | PF | |
| 2006–07 | Kevin Durant* | Texas | SF | |
| 2007–08 | Michael Beasley | Kansas State | PF | |
| 2008–09 | Tyreke Evans | Memphis | PG | |
| 2009–10 | John Wall | Kentucky | PG | |
| 2010–11 | Jared Sullinger | Ohio State | PF | |
| 2011–12 | Anthony Davis* | Kentucky | C | |
| 2012–13 | Marcus Smart | Oklahoma State | PG | |
| 2013–14 | Jabari Parker | Duke | SF | |
| 2014–15 | Jahlil Okafor | Duke | C | |
| 2015–16 | Ben Simmons | LSU | F | |
| 2016–17 | Lonzo Ball | UCLA | PG | |
| 2017–18 | Trae Young | Oklahoma | PG | |
| 2018–19 | Zion Williamson* | Duke | F | |
| 2019–20 | Vernon Carey Jr. | Duke | C | |
| 2020–21 | Cade Cunningham | Oklahoma State | PG | |
| 2021–22 | Jabari Smith | Auburn | F | |
| 2022–23 | Brandon Miller | Alabama | F | |
| 2023–24 | Reed Sheppard | Kentucky | G | |
Women :
| Season | Player | School | Position | Reference |
| 1988–89 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1989–90 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1990–91 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1991–92 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1992–93 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1993–94 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1994–95 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1995–96 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1996–97 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1997–98 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1998–99 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 1999–00 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 2000–01 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 2001–02 | No award | No award | No award | No award |
| 2002–03 | Seimone Augustus | LSU | SG | |
| 2003–04 | Tiffany Jackson | Texas | F | |
| 2004–05$^†$ | Tasha Humphrey | Georgia | C | |
| 2004–05$^†$ | Candice Wiggins | Stanford | SG | |
| 2005–06 | Courtney Paris | Oklahoma | C | |
| 2006–07 | Tina Charles | UConn | C | |
| 2007–08 | Maya Moore | UConn | SF | |
| 2008–09 | Shekinna Stricklen | Tennessee | SF / G | |
| 2009–10 | Brittney Griner | Baylor | C | |
| 2010–11 | Odyssey Sims | Baylor | PG | |
| 2011–12 | Elizabeth Williams | Duke | C | |
| 2012–13 | Jewell Loyd | Notre Dame | G | |
| 2013–14 | Diamond DeShields | North Carolina | G | |
| 2014–15 | Kelsey Mitchell | Ohio State | G | |
| 2015–16 | Kristine Anigwe | California | C | |
| 2016–17 | Sabrina Ionescu | Oregon | G | |
| 2017–18 | Chennedy Carter | Texas A&M | G | |
| 2018–19 | Rhyne Howard | Kentucky | G | |
| 2019–20 | Aliyah Boston | South Carolina | F | |
| 2020–21$^†$ | Paige Bueckers* | UConn | G | |
| 2020–21$^†$ | Caitlin Clark | Iowa | G | |
| 2021–22 | Aneesah Morrow | DePaul | F | |
| 2022–23 | Ta'Niya Latson | Florida State | G | |
| 2023–24 | JuJu Watkins | USC | G | |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Freshmen are ineligible for the third major player of the year award in women's basketball, the Wade Trophy.
* ↑ Chris Jackson legally changed his name to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in 1991 upon his conversion to Islam.
* ↑ No award was given from 1995 to 1997, although the official USBWA website does not explain why.