SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced today redshirt senior Arella Guirantes of Rutgers women's basketball as one of 20 watch list candidates for the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.
 
Named after the first player, male or female, named to an All-America Team in four straight college seasons, the annual award in its fourth year recognizes the top shooting guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
 
Guirantes led the Big Ten and ranked ninth in the nation with 20.6 points per game last season during a campaign that was lauded with All-America Honorable Mention accolades by the Associated Press, the WBCA and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. She was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team, just the third from Rutgers since joining the conference in 2014-15 and first to be selected unanimously.
 
College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In early February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award will be narrowed to just 10. In early March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. Meyers Drysdale and the Hall of Fame's selection committee.
 
The winner of the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented on Friday, April 9, 2021, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award, and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men's Starting Five.
 
Previous winners of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award include Aari McDonald, Arizona (2020), Asia Durr, Louisville (2019) and Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State (2018).
 
For more information on the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #MeyersAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, November 13.
 
2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Candidates
Aari McDonald - Arizona
Chelsea Dungee - Arkansas
DiJonai Carrington - Baylor
Christyn Williams - Connecticut
Sonya Morris - DePaul
Jill Townsend - Gonzaga
Nicole Cardaño-Hillary - Indiana
Dana Evans - Louisville
Ashley Owusu - Maryland
Jakia Brown-Turner - NC State
Lindsey Pulliam - Northwestern
Taylor Robertson - Oklahoma
Taylor Mikesell - Oregon
Arella Guirantes - Rutgers
Zia Cooke - South Carolina
Kiana Williams - Stanford
Kiara Lewis - Syracuse
Destiny Pitts - Texas A&M
Charisma Osborne - UCLA
Brynna Maxwell - Utah
 
About Ann Meyers Drysdale:
Ann Meyers Drysdale's career escalated women's basketball to a new level. She was the first high school player to make the United States national team and the first woman to receive a full four-year athletic scholarship to UCLA. Her high-octane approach translated into wins and awards and she finished her impressive career at UCLA owning 12 of 13 school records including becoming the first player to record a quadruple double in UCLA history. A supremely talented all-around player with natural basketball ability and instincts, Meyers Drysdale was the first player, male or female, named to an All-America team in four straight seasons and was named Player of the Year during her senior year. While still at UCLA, she started on the first women's Olympic team in 1976. After an All-America career, she became the first player drafted into the Women's Basketball League, earning WBL MVP and making history by becoming the first female player to tryout with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers, with whom she signed a free agent contract. Meyers Drysdale pushed the envelope in women's basketball, bringing a feel and sense for the game that few players ever exhibited. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.  In 2007, she was the 1st American Women to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2012, Meyers Drysdale became one of the first annual naming honorees on the women's side of the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) with the organization's National Women's Player of the Year. Since retiring from professional play, she has had a very successful career as an NBA and WNBA executive, as well as a color commentator for the NBA, WNBA and the Olympic Games in 1984, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. In 2005 she received the ASAMA Ronald Reagan Media Award and in 2019, she was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Pac-12 Hall of Honor.
 
About the WBCA:
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. For more information, visit us online: www.WBCA.org, follow @wbca1981 or call 1-770-279-8027.
 
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at every level – men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors, both domestically and internationally. The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 400 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo "Court of Dreams." Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game's elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and events, visit www.hoophall.com, follow @hoophall or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.
 
 
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@RutgersWBB) for all of the latest news and updates. The team is also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWBB). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter(@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), Snapchat (@RUAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.
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