ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— UNM senior forward Shaiquel McGruder has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats, as announced by the committee on Wednesday.
McGruder is one of 25 players on the preseason list, and joins Colorado State’s McKenna Hofschild as representatives from the Mountain West.
It is the second accolade in the past week for the Ohio native, who was named to the Mountain West preseason MW team on Oct. 12.
McGruder earned her first preseason conference honor after being named to the MW All-Conference and All-Defensive teams last season. Last season, the Ohio native led the conference in field-goal percentage, shooting 60.8 percent from the floor, and scored in double figures in 25 games with seven games with 20-plus points.
Defensively, she recorded multiple steals in 20 games, and at least one steal in 28 games including in every conference game but five. Additionally, she had at least one block in 23 games, including twice registering five blocks, a game with four blocks and five games with three blocks. She finished fourth in the MW in steals per game at 1.83 per game, as well as second in blocked shots and blocked shots per game with 49 and 1.36, respectively.
Last season, McGruder produced the best numbers in her career as a Lobo in points, rebounds, steals, blocks, assists, made three-pointers, made baskets and free throws. She also led the team in steals, rebounds and made baskets and was second in scoring.
McGruder enters the season needing just 18 points to reach 1,000-career points and with 622 career rebounds, would be the 18th Lobo in program history to achieve 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
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.