OKLAHOMA CITY – Fifty student-athletes were revealed on the watch list for the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award enters its 19th season and recognizes outstanding athletic achievement by NCAA Division I female collegiate softball players across the country.
Click here for the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year “Watch List”
Nineteen fifth-year student-athletes join the preseason “Watch List” following the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) decision to grant 2020 spring athletes an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19. Also included are 11 seniors, 15 juniors and five sophomores, with freshman ineligible for consideration. (Freshman can be considered for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award once they have competed at the collegiate level). Athletes named to the “Watch List” represent 28 NCAA Division I universities and 13 athletic conferences. UCLA leads the way among universities with six athlete representatives, while Washington and Alabama each have four athletes on the “Watch List”. Represented with three athletes apiece are Arizona, Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Texas. There are six Pac-12 programs represented followed by five from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and three schools apiece from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Big 12.
The Top 25 finalists for the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 21. While an athlete does not have to be on the “Watch List” to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 finalists. The Top 10 finalists will be announced May 5 and the Top 3 announced May 19. The 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed June 1.
-- Courtesy of USA Softball