The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was established for men in 1969 and for women in 1984. The men's award was presented to the nation's most outstanding senior who stands 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) or shorter, while the women's award was presented to the top senior who is 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) or shorter. Early in the women's award's history, the cut-off height was . The men's award was selected by a panel from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), while the women's was selected by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The award was discontinued following the 2013–14 season.

Both the men's and women's winners were generally players in NCAA Division I. For the men's side, John Rinka from Kenyon College (1970), Mike Scheib from Susquehanna University (1978) and Jerry Johnson from Florida Southern College (1988) won from NCAA Divisions II, III, and II, respectively. For the women's winners, Julie Dabrowski of New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University) (1990) and Amy Dodrill (1995) and Angie Arnold (1998), both from Johns Hopkins University, were also winners from Division III.

Only three schools from the list of men's winners (Louisville, St. John's and UCLA) and six schools from the list of women's winners (Baylor, Gonzaga, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Penn State, and UConn) had multiple award winners. Of these programs, the only one with winners in consecutive seasons is the Louisville men's program (Peyton Siva in 2013 and Russ Smith in 2014). Six other schools have had winners of both the men's and women's awards: California, Eastern Michigan, NC State, Purdue, Virginia, and Wake Forest.

Key     *     Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: Men – Sporting News; Oscar Robertson Trophy; Associated Press; NABC; UPI; Naismith; Wooden; Adolph Rupp Trophy; Helms FoundationWomen – Wade; Associated Press; Naismith; Wooden

Winners

+ Men Year Player School Height Reference 1968–69 Purdue (1.78 m) 1969–70 Kenyon (1.75 m) 1970–71 California (1.83 m) 1971–72 Oklahoma (1.83 m) 1972–73 Army (1.80 m) 1973–74 Michigan State (1.80 m) 1974–75 NC State (1.70 m) 1975–76 St. John's (1.78 m) 1976–77 Utah (1.83 m) 1977–78 Susquehanna (1.73 m) 1978–79 Columbia (1.75 m) 1979–80 Boston College (1.80 m) 1980–81 West Texas State (1.73 m) 1981–82 Nebraska (1.75 m) 1982–83 Ball State (1.75 m) 1983–84 Virginia (1.78 m) 1984–85 Texas Tech (1.80 m) 1985–86 Bradley (1.80 m) 1986–87 Wake Forest (1.60 m) 1987–88 Florida Southern (1.80 m) 1988–89 UTEP (1.83 m) 1989–90 St. John's (1.83 m) 1990–91 East Tennessee State (1.70 m) 1991–92 Green Bay (1.83 m) 1992–93 New Mexico State (1.73 m) 1993–94 New Mexico (1.70 m) 1994–95 UCLA (1.78 m) 1995–96 Vermont (1.80 m) 1996–97 Stanford (1.78 m) 1997–98 Eastern Michigan (1.65 m) 1998–99 George Washington (1.63 m) 1999–00 Ohio State (1.80 m) 2000–01 Detroit Mercy (1.78 m) 2001–02 Cincinnati (1.78 m) 2002–03 Arizona (1.78 m) 2003–04 * Saint Joseph's (1.83 m) 2004–05 Washington (1.75 m) 2005–06 * Illinois (1.83 m) 2006–07 South Carolina (1.83 m) 2007–08 Butler (1.83 m) 2008–09 UCLA (1.83 m) 2009–10 Kansas (1.80 m) 2010–11 Kansas State (1.83 m) 2011–12 Oakland (1.80 m) 2012–13 Louisville (1.83 m) 2013–14 Louisville (1.83 m) + Women Year Player School Height Reference 1968–69 No award 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 Louisiana Tech (1.63 m) 1984–85 Gonzaga (1.65 m) 1985–86 * Texas (1.65 m) 1986–87 USC (1.65 m) 1987–88 Penn State (1.65 m) 1988–89 Bowling Green (1.65 m) 1989–90 New Hampshire College (1.65 m) 1990–91 Providence (1.57 m) 1991–92 West Virginia (1.65 m) 1992–93 Virginia (1.63 m) 1993–94 Wake Forest (1.60 m) 1994–95 Johns Hopkins (1.63 m) 1995–96 * UConn (1.68 m) 1996–97 NC State (1.68 m) 1997–98 Johns Hopkins (1.68 m) 1998–99 Colorado State (1.68 m) 1999–00 Penn State (1.68 m) 2000–01 Notre Dame (1.70 m) 2001–02 Baylor (1.70 m) 2002–03 Tennessee (1.73 m) 2003–04 Purdue (1.68 m) 2004–05 Mississippi State (1.70 m) 2005–06 Notre Dame (1.70 m) 2006–07 * Duke (1.73 m) 2007–08 Wisconsin (1.73 m) 2008–09 UConn (1.70 m) 2009–10 California (1.73 m) 2010–11 Gonzaga (1.73 m) 2011–12 Eastern Michigan (1.70 m) 2012–13 Penn State (1.73 m) 2013–14 * Baylor (1.73 m)

References