University of Richmond Athletics
Budnik Named to Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Preseason Watchlist
10/19/2022 | Women's Basketball
HOPEWELL, N.J. — The preseason watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats has been announced, and Richmond's Addie Budnik has been named an honoree. The Becky Hammon Award was first given out in 2020, with South Dakota's Ciara Duffy being named the inaugural winner. FGCU's Kierstan Bell won the award in 2021 and 2022.
This year's preseason watch list includes representatives from 25 schools and 13 conferences. The Atlantic 10 and MAC lead all conferences with four watch list members, tying the previous record for most representatives on the preseason watch list (MVC 2021-22, MAC 2020-21).
Budnik, who was just named Preseason First Team All-Conference by the Atlantic 10 earlier this week, led the Spiders in scoring and blocked shots last season. Her 13.6 points per game ranked 12th in the conference, and her program second-best 77 blocks on the year ranked second in the league and 12th in the nation.
She also led the team and ranked fourth in the league in field goal percentage last season, shooting 49.8 percent from the field. Budnik scored in double-digits in 23 of 30 games last year, including nine in-a-row from Nov. 18 to Dec. 19. She led Richmond with 19 points against Davidson in the second round of the A-10 Tournament. Budnik, a 2021-22 Second Team All-Conference selection, notched six 20+ point games, including a tied career-high 23 against UMBC, and put up a career-high seven blocks in back-to-back games early in the season. She ended the regular season by scoring the game-winning basket in the last second against VCU for a comeback victory where the Spiders erased a 17-point deficit.
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, 15 players will be named to the midseason watch list. The 10 semifinalists will be announced in February, with five finalists being announced in early March. The winner will be announced in late March. The list is fluid and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the season.
About Becky Hammon
Hammon was a three-time All-American during her career at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999, the program's only appearance to date. She was signed by the New York Liberty in 1999 and traded to the San Antonio Stars in 2007, where she played the rest of her career. Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016 she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was recently named to the W25.
Hammon became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Additionally, Hammon is the only woman to be a head coach in the NBA Summer League as well as the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff. Currently, Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and won the 2022 WNBA Championship in her first season.
About Her Hoop Stats
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. We began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game providing content through our newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
This year's preseason watch list includes representatives from 25 schools and 13 conferences. The Atlantic 10 and MAC lead all conferences with four watch list members, tying the previous record for most representatives on the preseason watch list (MVC 2021-22, MAC 2020-21).
Budnik, who was just named Preseason First Team All-Conference by the Atlantic 10 earlier this week, led the Spiders in scoring and blocked shots last season. Her 13.6 points per game ranked 12th in the conference, and her program second-best 77 blocks on the year ranked second in the league and 12th in the nation.
She also led the team and ranked fourth in the league in field goal percentage last season, shooting 49.8 percent from the field. Budnik scored in double-digits in 23 of 30 games last year, including nine in-a-row from Nov. 18 to Dec. 19. She led Richmond with 19 points against Davidson in the second round of the A-10 Tournament. Budnik, a 2021-22 Second Team All-Conference selection, notched six 20+ point games, including a tied career-high 23 against UMBC, and put up a career-high seven blocks in back-to-back games early in the season. She ended the regular season by scoring the game-winning basket in the last second against VCU for a comeback victory where the Spiders erased a 17-point deficit.
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, 15 players will be named to the midseason watch list. The 10 semifinalists will be announced in February, with five finalists being announced in early March. The winner will be announced in late March. The list is fluid and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the season.
About Becky Hammon
Hammon was a three-time All-American during her career at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999, the program's only appearance to date. She was signed by the New York Liberty in 1999 and traded to the San Antonio Stars in 2007, where she played the rest of her career. Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016 she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was recently named to the W25.
Hammon became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Additionally, Hammon is the only woman to be a head coach in the NBA Summer League as well as the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff. Currently, Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and won the 2022 WNBA Championship in her first season.
About Her Hoop Stats
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. We began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game providing content through our newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
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