Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Senior Hoops Star Molly Creamer Named 'Player to Watch'
11/19/2002 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell senior women's basketball player Molly Creamer (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) has been named a "Player to Watch" for the second annual Senior CLASS Award. The award is presented annually to the nation's senior player-of-the-year for NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball.
The inaugural award winners were Juan Dixon of Maryland and Sue Bird of Connecticut.
The formation of the Senior CLASS Award - an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School - was announced during last season's college basketball season. The CLASS Award was developed in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving college early to turn professional.
Creamer is competing in her fourth and final year with the Bison women's basketball program. The 5-10 guard has had an outstanding career to date, accumulating 1,703 career points through her first three seasons. A co-captain this year, Creamer opened the 2002-03 campaign with a 28-point performance against 14th-ranked Penn State in the Pre-season WNIT on Friday, November 15. With her scoring total, she moved in to second place on the Patriot League's all-time scoring list with 1,731 total points.
Selection criteria is based on a number of factors, the most important being that the recipient must have exhausted their four years of eligibility and have fulfilled their commitment to their respective university. In addition, the recipient must be working toward their degree, be in good academic standing and be of sound moral character.
The performances of the "Players to Watch" for both men and women will be tracked during the season. From that pool of players, a national committee of sportscasters and sportswriters who cover college basketball on the Division I level will select 10 Finalists.
The names of these Finalists will appear on the official ballot during the national voting process in March. The selection of the men's and women's award winner will be based on the cumulative ballots of the national media committee and Division I college basketball coaches. The winner will be announced during the respective NCAA Final Four events in March.
"The inaugural year of the Senior CLASS Award came together with a storybook ending, as both winners led their team to the national championship," said Gary Heise, President of Premier Sports Management, the company responsible for the overall administration of the award. "With Juan Dixon and Sue Bird having already set a high benchmark, we are very impressed with the candidates for year two. Senior players are dominating the preseason All-American teams and it will be an intriguing race in the balloting for the 2002-03 award winners."
Following is a complete list of the 2003 Women's Senior CLASS Award "Players to Watch" (in alphabetical order):
| 2003 Women's Senior CLASS Award "Players to Watch" | |
| Player | School |
| Jordan Adams | University of New Mexico |
| Chantelle Anderson | Vanderbilt University |
| Kristine Austgulen | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Gunta Basko | Siena University |
| Tamara Bowie | Ball State University |
| Syretta Bromfield | Michigan State University |
| Coretta Brown | University of North Carolina |
| Courtney Coleman | Ohio State University |
| Molly Creamer | Bucknell University |
| Angela Davidson | Northwestern State University |
| Tamika Dudley | Long Island University |
| Crissy Floyd | Clemson University |
| Cheryl Ford | Louisiana Tech University |
| Caton Hill | University of Oklahoma |
| Constance Jinks | UNLV |
| Trish Juhline | Villanova University |
| Kara Lawson | University of Tennessee |
| Sonja Mallory | Georgia Tech University |
| Ashley McElhiney | Vanderbilt University |
| Loree Payne | University of Washington | Jocelyn Penn | University of South Carolina | Alicia Ratay | University of Notre Dame | Ayisha Smith | Louisiana State University | Kate Smith | University of Nevada-Reno | Brianne Stepherson | Boston College | LaToya Thomas | Mississippi State University | Erin Thorn | Brigham Young University | Shaquala Williams | University of Oregon | Lindsey Wilson | Iowa State University | Katie Wolfe | Oakland University |
