CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For the first time in Illinois women's basketball program history, a Fighting Illini player has been named to the Nancy Lieberman Top-20 Preseason Watch List as Makira Cook was announced as an honoree on Monday. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) have given the award annually since 2000 to the top point guard in the country.
A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. To be considered for this prestigious award, candidates must exhibit the floor leadership, playmaking, and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman.
Cook is a senior in her second year at Illinois and fourth season under Shauna Green. She averaged a team-best 18.3 points per game and dished out 125 assists (4.2/game) while starting all 30 games she appeared in during the 2022-23 campaign. The guard tallied a 41.4 field goal percentage and shot 34.2% from behind the arc. Her free-throw percentage of 86.6 marked the fifth-best single-season rate in program history.
As a junior, Cook tallied 548 total points, ranking 15th on the program's single-season scoring list and making her just the 23rd Illini to ever score 500 or more points in a season. She turned in a career-high 33 points at No. 5/4 Indiana (12/4/22). Cook, who earned first-team All-Big Ten and honorable-mention All-America status from multiple organizations last season, was tabbed to the 2023-24 Coaches and Media Preseason All-Big Ten Team.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, Oct. 20. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Nancy Lieberman Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Lieberman and the Hall of Fame's selection committee, who will select a winner.
The 2024 Nancy Lieberman Award winner will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men's Starting Five.
2024 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Candidates*
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Sarah Andrews
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Baylor
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Lauren Park-Lane
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Mississippi State
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Jaylyn Sherrod
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Colorado
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Deja Kelly
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North Carolina
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McKenna Hofschild
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Colorado State
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Olivia Miles
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Notre Dame
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Kaylynne Truong
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Gonzaga
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Jacy Sheldon
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Ohio State
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Makira Cook
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Illinois
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Makenna Marisa
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Penn State
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Caitlin Clark
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Iowa
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Te-Hina Paopao
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South Carolina
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Emily Ryan
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Iowa State
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Dyaisha Fair
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Syracuse
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Zakiyah Franklin
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Kansas
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Rori Harmon
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Texas
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Serena Sundell
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Kansas State
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Nika Mühl
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UConn
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Shyanne Sellers
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Maryland
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Georgia Amoore
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Virginia Tech
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*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2023-24 season
