After celebrating my birthday yesterday, I hoped my day would go smoothly. However, around noon, I saw the finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year Award and nearly lost it. How could you not have Madison Booker as one of the four finalists after what she's done to carry Texas back to the Sweet 16 this season? Seems like they need to cut out fan voting and let the coaches choose the finalists. We would have a more accurate list of the top players in the country.
Lauren Betts, Azzi Fudd, Mikayla Blakes, and Sarah Strong were voted as the four finalists. Before we even continue with the article, all four of these ladies had impressive basketball seasons this year that will be remembered. However, with fans voting for this award, it feels more like a popularity contest than one about who actually deserves it. Madison Booker was one of the most consistent players in the SEC this season and should definitely have been a finalist.
For starters, there should only be one player from UConn as a finalist. Both Fudd and Strong are great players who have lifted each other on the court this season. I feel like if the number one team has two players as finalists, there should be a fifth finalist to offset that, and that's where Booker comes into the picture. She was most likely the runner-up for SEC Player of the Year this season. How can you not have one of the players from the toughest women's basketball country?
As a journalist, I try to remain neutral about postseason awards as much as possible because there are so many good players in women's basketball every year. It's so hard to recognize everyone's accomplishments over the long season, but Booker has been snubbed in so many awards that it's not funny this season. There's a reason why Texas won the SEC Conference this season, and Booker is one of them.
I could go on and on about how Booker has helped Texas reach new heights this season. The fact that she isn't even a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year Award makes me so upset. Booker has Texas in the Sweet 16 after her amazing performance on Sunday against the Oregon Ducks. I hope the people who created the Naismith Award really shut down fan voting, because the finalists this season feel like a popularity contest more than the actual players who deserve it. This should add a lot of fuel to Booker's performance against Kentucky on Saturday.