FARMVILLE, Va. – Just hours after earning a nod as a Big South Preseason All-Conference first-team selection,
Akila Smith was named to the Her Hoops Stats Preseason Watch List for the 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.
The award, which was first given out in 2020, recognizes the top mid-major player in the nation and is named after Becky Hammon, a three-time All-American at Colorado State and six-time WNBA All-Star. Following her retirement, she was named one of the top-20 players in WNBA history in 2016, and she became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. She is the only woman to serve as a head coach in the NBA Summer League, and she is the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff.
Smith earned her spot on the preseason watch list with a tour de force through the 2020-21 season, as the rising senior was one of the top players in the Big South. The long-armed forward averaged a double-double while also blocking a whopping 3.52 shots per game (third nationally). She shattered her own single-season blocks record with 88 blocks (fourth nationally) while also vaulting into first in blocks in the program's record books. Her defensive prowess earned her both Big South and VaSID Defensive Player of the Year titles as well as Big South and VaSID First Team honors.
Smith also proved equally capable of putting the ball in the basket as she bumped up her scoring average nearly 10 points per game while also snaring every rebound in sight. The Orlando, Fla. native averaged 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while posting 14 double-doubles on the year. She also tallied the second triple-double in Longwood's history with a 14-point, 13-rebound, 11-block performance on January 15 that simultaneously broke both the program and Big South single-game blocks record.
Smith hit double figures in scoring 24 times and scored at least 20 four times while topping 30 once. Her .577 shooting percentage ranked 11th in the nation and was the second-best shooting percentage from the floor in team history.
That success on the court helped pave the way for a historic season for the Longwood women's basketball program, as the team ripped off 12 conference wins to finish third in the league -- both the best marks in program history. The Lancers hosted and won a Big South postseason game in the conference quarterfinals and advanced to the Big South semifinals before earning a bid to the Women's Basketball Invitational, the first postseason invitation in the team's Division I history.
Smith was named to the Big South All-Tournament Team while also earning a spot as a Winners Only All-Defensive First Team Selection.
For the Lancers, this marks the second straight season a player on the team has been nominated to a national watch list, following point guard
Tra'Dayja Smith's appointment to the
Nancy Lieberman Award Preseason Watch List prior to the 2020-21 season.
The Her Hoop Stats Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award will be awarded in late March. A midseason watch list will be announced on January 15, with the 10 semifinalists announced in February. The list will be trimmed to five finalists, and they will be announced in early March. Per a press release from Her Hoop Stats, the list is fluid, and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the season. The inaugural winner in 2020 was South Dakota's Ciara Duffy, and FGCU's Kierstan Bell won the award this past spring.
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. The site 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 their
newsletter,
podcast and social media accounts (
Twitter,
Facebook,
Instagram).
Her Hoop Stats 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Preseason Watch List
Dariauna Lewis, Alabama A&M
Destinee Wells, Belmont
Lexi Fleming, Bowling Green
Gabi Haack, Bradley
Dyaisha Fair, Buffalo
Shaylee Gonzales, BYU
Caitlyn Harper, Cal Baptist
Jasmine Dickey, Delaware
Grace Berg, Drake
Kierstan Bell, FGCU
Haley Cavinder, Fresno State
Jenson Edwards, High Point
Macee Williams, IUPUI
Ameshya Williams, Jackson State
Kiki Jefferson, James Madison
Akila Smith, Longwood University
Megan Walstad, Milwaukee
Brice Calip, Missouri State
Jasmine Franklin, Missouri State
Cece Hooks, Ohio
Stephanie Visscher, SFA
Chloe Lamb, South Dakota
Hannah Sjerven, South Dakota
Myah Selland, South Dakota State
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