| Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Big Ten Conference |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Big Ten head coaches (1983–present) Big Ten media (1996–present) |
| First awarded | 1983 |
| Currently held by | Caitlin Clark, Iowa |
The Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the Big Ten's first full season of women's basketball in 1982–83 (although the conference held its first postseason tournament the previous season). The league's head coaches have presented the award since 1983; media members who cover Big Ten women's basketball began presenting their own version of the award in 1996.[n 1]
Ten players have won the award multiple times. Six players have won twice: Anucha Browne of Northwestern (1984, 1985), Tracey Hall of Ohio State (1986, 1987), Katie Douglas of Purdue (2000, 2001), Kelly Mazzante of Penn State (2003, 2004), Maggie Lucas of Penn State (2013, 2014), and Megan Gustafson of Iowa (2018, 2019). Four players have won more than two awards. Ohio State's Jantel Lavender is the only four-time winner (2008–2011), though only the 2009 and 2010 awards were unanimous (she won the coaches' award in 2008 and the media award in 2011). Jessica Davenport, also of Ohio State, and Caitlin Clark of Iowa are the only players to have been the unanimous winner of three awards (Davenport: 2005–2007; Clark: 2022–2024). Ohio State's other three-time winner, Kelsey Mitchell, won the coaches' award in 2015 and 2018 and both awards in 2017.
Five players have won a major national player of the year award in the same season in which they were Big Ten Player of the Year. Michelle Edwards of Iowa won the Rawlings/Women Basketball Coaches Association national player of the year award in 1988; Carol Ann Shudlick of Minnesota won the Wade Trophy in 1994; Stephanie White of Purdue won the Wade Trophy and Honda Award in 1999; Megan Gustafson won the Naismith and Honda Awards in 2019, and was also named national player of the year by AP and the United States Basketball Writers Association; and Caitlin Clark won all significant national awards in both 2023 and 2024.
The coaches and media have split their honors six times in all, with the most recent being 2018, when Mitchell won the coaches' award and Gustafson won the media award.
Ohio State has the record for the most awards with 15, and the most individuals who have won the award, with seven. Of schools that were Big Ten members before the 2024–25 season, three have never had a winner: long-established member Indiana, and the two schools that joined the conference in 2014, Maryland and Rutgers. Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington play their first Big Ten seasons in 2024–25.
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