Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award

The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, the annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who excelled on the court despite their size, was discontinued following the 2013-14 season, it has been learned. And it doesn’t look like it’s coming back.

And so, too, ends one of the Holton community’s unique ties to the ongoing history of the game of basketball - and the Naismith family.

The award, which was established by the Naismith family in honor of the daughter-in-law of the inventor of the game of basketball – Francis Pomeroy Naismith - was established for men in 1969 and for women in 1984.

The inventor of the game of basketball, of course, was James Naismith.

The men’s award was presented to the nation’s most outstanding senior who is 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 history, the cut-off height was 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m).

The men’s award was selected by a panel from the National Association of Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) while the women’s was selected by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

The award was discontinued following the 2013–14 season, without much fanfare.

Note: The full story is available online at this site for subscribers of The Holton Recorder.