The Naismith College Player of the Year award, named for basketball inventor James Naismith, is given annually to college basketball's top male and female player. The first award was given to Lew Alcindor, now know as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in 1969. The first women's award was given in 1983.

The Naismith Board of Selectors is comprised of the following groups: National Advisory Board, Former Naismith Collegiate Player of the Year Award winners, NCAA Division I Men and Women Head Basketball coaches, NCAA Division I Conference Commissioners, and Selected Media (College Basketball Writers, General Sports Columnists, Television sportscasters in major cities, and Television play-by-play and color analysts covering college basketball.)

The Naismith Trophy was sculpted in 1983 by Martin C. Dawe of Atlanta. Each winner receives a bronze copy.

Award winners - Men

• 1969 - Lew Alcindor, UCLA
• 1970 - Pete Maravich, LSU
• 1971 - Austin Carr , Notre Dame
• 1972 - Bill Walton, UCLA
• 1973 - Bill Walton, UCLA
• 1974 - Bill Walton, UCLA
• 1975 - David Thompson, NC State
• 1976 - Scott May , Indiana
• 1977 - Marques Johnson , UCLA
• 1978 - Butch Lee , Marquette
• 1979 - Larry Bird, Indiana State
• 1980 - Mark Aguirre , DePaul
• 1981 - Ralph Sampson, Virginia
• 1982 - Ralph Sampson, Virginia
• 1983 - Ralph Sampson, Virginia
• 1984 - Michael Jordan, North Carolina
• 1985 - Patrick Ewing, Georgetown
• 1986 - Johnny Dawkins, Duke
• 1987 - David Robinson, Navy
• 1988 - Danny Manning, Kansas
• 1989 - Danny Ferry, Duke
• 1990 - Lionel Simmons , La Salle
• 1991 - Larry Johnson, UNLV
• 1992 - Christian Laettner, Duke
• 1993 - Calbert Cheaney , Indiana
• 1994 - Glenn Robinson, Purdue
• 1995 - Joe Smith , Maryland
• 1996 - Marcus Camby, UMass
• 1997 - Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
• 1998 - Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
• 1999 - Elton Brand, Duke
• 2000 - Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
• 2001 - Shane Battier , Duke
• 2002 - Jason Williams , Duke
• 2003 - T. J. Ford, Texas
• 2004 - Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's
• 2005 - Andrew Bogut, Utah

Award winners - Women

• 1983 - Anne Donovan , Old Dominion
• 1984 - Cheryl Miller , USC
• 1985 - Cheryl Miller , USC
• 1986 - Cheryl Miller , USC
• 1987 - Clarissa Davis , Texas
• 1988 - Sue Wicks, Rutgers
• 1989 - Clarissa Davis , Texas
• 1990 - Jennifer Azzi , Stanford
• 1991 - Dawn Staley, Virginia
• 1992 - Dawn Staley, Virginia
• 1993 - Sheryl Swoopes, Texas Tech
• 1994 - Lisa Leslie, USC
• 1995 - Rebecca Lobo, UConn
• 1996 - Saudia Roundtree , Georgia
• 1997 - Kate Starbird , Stanford
• 1998 - Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
• 1999 - Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
• 2000 - Tamika Catchings, Tennessee
• 2001 - Ruth Riley , Notre Dame
• 2002 - Sue Bird, UConn
• 2003 - Diana Taurasi, UConn
• 2004 - Diana Taurasi, UConn
• 2005 - Seimone Augustus , LSU

External links

• Official site