Naismith Award watch: Caitlin Clark the clear front-runner with Cameron Brink, Alissa Pili

With conference play tipping off in earnest this week, it’s time to update the outlook on candidates for the Naismith Player of the Year.

Caitlin Clark, the reigning winner, leads all competitors as she continues her route to potentially breaking the all-time scoring record. She could become the first back-to-back winner since UConn’s Breanna Stewart. Stanford shot-blocker Cameron Brink joins her at the top as two of the six preseason Associated Press All-America selections stand out. And Utah’s Alissa Pili catapulted into a top contender this month. Others are rising into contention or falling out of view.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club, which awards the trophy every spring, released its 50-member Naismith Award watch list Nov. 3 and adjusts the list throughout the season. The trophy is awarded at the Final Four, which will be in Cleveland from April 4-7.

Front-runners

Caitlin Clark (Iowa)

Clark remains the front-runner for the award while averaging a career-high 30.2 points per game, best in Division I and higher than the 27 ppg she scored in the nonconference schedule last season. She cracked the all-time career top-10 scoring list this month as she chases the women’s scoring record set by Kelsey Plum in 2017.

Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks called Clark the oft-used descriptor “generational” after his team’s early-season loss to Iowa.

“I love my girls [on my team], but sometimes you’re playing checkers and she’s playing chess,” Brooks said. “She’s that good.”

Iowa had to revamp its lineup due to graduations and it took time for players to step up around Clark, leaving her to carry more of the scoring load and rank only fifth in assists, the worst of her career. Her assist and rebound numbers are slightly down to 7.2 and 6.8, respectively, but she’s still as thrilling of a player as ever. She won the Naismith with averages of 27.8 points, 8.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds.

But the biggest question she faced was efficiency after making 13-of-31 attempts against then-No. 8 Virginia Tech. A 9-of-32 night in a loss to Kansas State the next week didn’t help.

Yet, the 6-foot senior point guard has been overall more efficient than any other season at Iowa. She’s making 48.1% of her 21.5 average field-goal attempts — a quality clip that ranks in the top 50 of all players listed at guard in D-I. Half of those attempts, and about half of her makes, are from 3-point range where she’s shooting 39.7%.

Cameron Brink (Stanford)

Brink is the most important piece to Stanford’s success, averaging a team-best 19 ppg (54th nationally), 11.8 rpg (sixth) and 3.4 bpg (fifth). Her 60.4 field-goal percentage ranks top 100 and is a career best. She makes 64.4% inside the arc (another career best) and has hit half the amount of 3s (five) as all of last season on 14 attempts. Her free-throw shooting has also improved immensely from 64.7% as a freshman to 94% now. Most notably for Brink, she’s averaging 2.3 personal fouls, the lowest of her career, and has reached only three fouls in three contests.

“There’s not an answer for Cam,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after Brink’s season-high 29 points against Duke. “I mean, she can go up against anybody in the country and can score on anyone one-on-one.”

The Cardinal’s lone loss to Gonzaga was when Brink was sidelined in the second half with an illness and played 11 minutes. The team had 29 rebounds (six by Brink), its lowest of the season by 16 boards. The 6-foot-4 senior forward is the leading candidate for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award, which Aliyah Boston, the WNBA Rookie of the Year, won the past two seasons.

“[Stanford] puts a lot of pressure on you defensively just because of the way Cameron and Kiki [Iriafen] post up,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said after Brink’s 20 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks fueled Stanford to a 32-point win. “They post so hard and they force you to have to bring help from somewhere.”

Brink and Clark each have the benefit of strong conference opponents in the Pac-12 and Big Ten, respectively, to showcase their talents against the best competition.

Alissa Pili (Utah)

Pili, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year, stepped up for back-to-back 30-plus-point games after Utah guard Gianna Kneepkens underwent surgery and was ruled out for the season. Pili is averaging a career-high 25.2 ppg behind Clark and USC’s JuJu Watkins.

Opponents know the Utah game plan is to feed the 6-2 fifth-year senior, but that doesn’t make it any easier to stop her. Pili is undersized, but has the footwork and strength to overpower opponents. South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-7 senior forward, had trouble stopping Pili, who can pull up from 3 and drill it. She scored a season-high 37 in the narrow loss to No. 1-ranked South Carolina on Dec. 10.

“You can’t stop her. It’s impossible to stop her,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “She’s gotta have a bad night and probably a bad night is probably her shooting 60%.”

Head coach Lynne Roberts said the performance “showed that she’s the best player in the country.” Her 70.2 field-goal percentage ranks 11th and she is 77% (fourth) from inside the arc. She had at least three 3s in each of a four-game span this month.

The showcase against the Gamecocks put Pili in front-runner status and another good game against Brink and Stanford (Jan. 12) could push her ahead.

Rising

Paige Bueckers (UConn)

The way the 2021 Naismith winner has played the last few games, she could be a rising contender for Defensive Player of the Year. She had nine blocks and five steals combined in wins over then-No. 24 North Carolina and then-No. 18 Louisville that re-sparked optimism around the Huskies.

She’s had standout offensive performances against NC State, Maryland, UCLA and North Carolina. In her third game back from rehabbing a torn ACL, she scored 24 on 10-of-15 shooting against the Terps and led UConn on a 20-4 run to end the first half with a 15-point lead.

“Paige did what All-Americans do,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. “She put the team on her back and made play after play.”

Bueckers, a preseason AP All-American, is taking on a leading role again for UConn after Azzi Fudd’s season-ending injury. Freshman center Jana El Alfy and sophomore forward Ayanna Patterson are also out for the season.

It has been the defensive side that fuels her offense, Bueckers said, and she’s averaging near her freshman-season numbers when she won the award. She remains a consistent 53% shooter and has improved her makes from 3 so far to 47.7%.

Rori Harmon (Texas)

Harmon was not in the preseason conversation for National Player of the Year awards, but, hey, that’s why you actually play the games before handing out hardware. Her arrival came in Texas’ 80-68 upset win over UConn on Dec. 3 when Harmon successfully locked down Bueckers and led all scorers with 27 points and 13 assists.

“I think she’s the best player we’ve played against so far this year by far at both ends,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “Defensively, I thought she was really instrumental in keeping Paige from getting in any kind of rhythm. Offensively, I think she just takes the ball and goes to her spot.”

The 6-5 point guard is top five in assists for the second straight season, averaging a third-best 7.7, and is at a career-high 3.1 steals per game. She’s averaging 14.3 points, another career high on a career-low 28.8 minutes (19.9 points per 40-minute average), and is hitting 50.8%.

“I was really impressed with the control that she has of herself and the game,” Auriemma said. “There was very rarely a time when she’s trying to make a play that isn’t the right play at that time. And she takes shots that she knows she can make. I was really, really impressed. I thought she’s the best player we’ve played against.”

Her ascension to the Naismith chatter came from defeating the game’s powerhouse and could receive more boosts with what looks to be a strong season of competition in the Big 12. Her smaller scoring stat compared to others on the list could hurt her case and the guard has never been a significant 3-point threat for the Longhorns.

JuJu Watkins (USC)

Watkins, a 6-2 freshman guard, vaulted quickly into consideration by squashing a Lisa Leslie record and averaging 26.8 ppg, second to Clark. She has the highest usage rate at 41.2% and is top 100 in steals (2.6) and blocks (1.4). But she hasn’t faced many strong opponents yet in her young collegiate career and the loaded Pac-12 schedule could impact her candidacy against the veterans on this list.

The No. 1 recruit has scored at least 30 points five times, doing so in wins against Ohio State, Le Moyne, Penn State, Cal Poly and San Diego. It broke Leslie and Paula McGee’s tied record of three in their respective freshman seasons.

“She’s a unique player because you don’t see many people with the combination of size, length, and skill, and athleticism,” Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said after Watkins scored 32 points in her collegiate debut against the Buckeyes. “You usually see people kind of have the size and the skill, but their athleticism isn’t there, or they’re athletic and they’re long, but their skill isn’t quite there.

“And she’s got a good feel for the game, too, which is — that’s not easy to do on Day 1 in college. She’s got a chance to be a really special player for sure.”

On the verge: Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina, 6-7 senior forward), Lauren Betts (UCLA, 6-7 sophomore forward) and Ayoka Lee (Kansas State, 6-4 redshirt senior forward).

Falling

Angel Reese (LSU)

Reese is carrying less of the load in Baton Rouge after recruiting Aneesah Morrow from the transfer portal and head coach Kim Mulkey’s recruiting of freshman Mikaylah Williams.

The national champion leads the Tigers at 19.1 ppg and 10.5 rpg, both off her highs of 23 ppg (fifth) and 15.4 rpg (second) last season. Her blocks have also dropped from 1.6 to 0.5. Those numbers could dip further in conference play since LSU’s nonconference schedule was largely weak again.

The biggest knock against Reese, a 6-3 junior forward, might be her unexplained absence for four games heading into the Final Four rematch with Virginia Tech. She’s had some ups and downs in the early part of the schedule after being named a preseason AP All-American.

Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech)

Kitley, a 6-6 fifth-year center and preseason All-American, was a finalist for the award last season alongside Clark, Boston and Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist. But she has yet to assert herself in a big way against big competition. In Tech’s loss to Iowa, she scored 16 points shooting 43.8%, though she did have 16 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal. In the loss to LSU, she was a season-low 37.5% overall on 16 attempts within the arc. She is posting career numbers, but not against the right opponents.

Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana)

Holmes was the sixth AP preseason All-American selection and has also experienced a drop in production. The Hoosiers’ 6-3 fifth-year forward scored in double digits in all of her 31 appearances as a senior, but had eight points shooting 3-of-12 against Stanford with two rebounds, three turnovers and four fouls. Her two double-doubles are against Murray State and Evansville.