HOPEWELL, N.J. — Yvonne Ejim, Brynna Maxwell and Kaylynne Truong have been named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Becky Hammon Player of the Year Award.  This year's watch list includes representatives from 23 teams and 16 conferences. Gonzaga is the only team with multiple players on the watch list and becomes the first team to ever place three players on a single list.

Three conferences – the Mountain West, Missouri Valley, and WCC – placed three players on the watch list. Drake, Gonzaga, Princeton, and South Dakota have each now placed four different players on at least one watch list since the award's inception, becoming the only teams to do so. Starr Jacobs becomes the first player to appear on a watch list for multiple teams (Arkansas Pine Bluff this season and UT Arlington last season).

Last season, Ejim led the Zags in scoring with 16.8 points and 8.8 rebounds a game and recorded 8 double doubles. She scored at least 20 points in 11 games this past season, including a career-high 32-point performance against Queens on Dec. 6. With her efforts last year, she was named WCC Player of the Week three times, while she averaged 27.5 minutes a game. She was also named a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Player of the Year and named to the All-WCC First Team.

Maxwell averaged 13.5 points a game last year while being one of the best free throw and three-point shooter in the country. Maxwell shot 94.9 percent from the charity stripe and 48.1 percent from the three-point line to lead the nation for the majority of the year. She scored double figures in 23 games last year as she scored a three-pointer in every game during the regular season. She was also named WCC Player of the Week twice and was tabbed All-WCC First Team.

Truong averaged 15.8 points a game and dished out 166 assists last season. She was named the WCC Player of the Year and an AP All-American Honorable Mention. She scored in double figures 28 times. She recorded her career-high against Pepperdine on Dec. 29, with 26 points and six three-pointers. She broke the school record for most made three pointers in a season with 94. Along with being named WCC Player of the Week twice, she was also All-WCC First Team.

Truong was also recently named to the Nancy Lieberman preseason watch list and Maxwell was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list.
 
Award Eligibility & Schedule
To be eligible for this award, players must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be "mid-major." The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award, and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC. In January the 15-player midseason watch list will be announced, followed by 10 semifinalists announced in February. The five finalists will be announced in early March, with the winner announced around the Final Four. The list is fluid and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the season.