Who are the Naismith Award winners in 2024? Full list of nominees and winners for each category explored

The women's Naismith Award winners were announced on Thursday and highlighted some of the premier players and coaches in all of women's college basketball. While the men's winners will not be announced until Sunday, April 7, we do know the finalists.

The Women's Naismith Awards saw Caitlin Clark take home the Player of the Year honors, Paige Bueckers won the Defensive Player of the Year and Dawn Staley won the Coach of the Year.

Let's take a dive into the finalists and everything we need to know about the awards.

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Women's Naismith Award Winners

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Player of the Year

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The nominees for the Player of the Year award were Caitlin Clark, Paige Beuckers, JuJu Watkins, and Cameron Brink. The winner of the award was Iowa's Caitlin Clark as she was able to lead the nation in scoring and is having her season continue as they prepare for the Final Four against the UConn Huskies.

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Coach of the Year

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The candidates for this season's coach of the year were Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, USC's Lindsay Gottlieb, Iowa's Lisa Bluder and South Carolina's Dawn Staley.

Staley was able to win the award and this is the third consecutive season that she was named the Naismith Coach of the Year. She is currently on the verge of becoming the 10th undefeated program in NCAA history.

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Defensive Player of the Year

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The candidates for this season's Defensive Player of the Year are Stanford's Cameron Brink, South Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and Ohio State's Celeste Taylor.

Brink dominated as she led the country with 3.6 blocks and was third with her 11.9 rebounds per game. She was also the first player in NCAAW history with 500 points, 300 rebounds, and 100 blocks in back-to-back seasons.

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Men's Naismith Award Finalists

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Player of the Year

Purdue superstar Zach Edey became the first player to win back-to-back Naismith Player of the Year awards since Ralph Sampson in 1983. The 7-foot-4 center was one of the four finalists besides Houston's Jamal Shead, Tennessee's Dalton Knecht, and UNC's RJ Davis.

Edey was presented with the award in Phoenix, Arizona, where Purdue is currently preparing for a championship matchup against Dan Hurley's UConn.

Coach of the Year

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• Dan Hurley, UConn
• T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State
• Lamont Paris, South Carolina
• Kelvin Sampson, Houston

Defensive Player of the Year

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• Zach Edey, Purdue
• Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
• Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
• Jamal Shead, Houston

Who do you think will win the men's awards and did the Naismith Awards get the women's winners correct?

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