The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
Alabama men’s basketball forward Brandon Miller has been named the 2023 United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Wayman Tisdale Award winner, it was announced Tuesday afternoon. The award recognizes the top freshman in Division I basketball.
Miller is the fourth SEC player to win the Wayman Tisdale award and sixth SEC freshman to win a USBWA freshman of the year honor.
- First Alabama player ever to win the USBWA Freshman of the Year award
- Became the first player to sweep the SEC Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Tournament MVP awards in the same season
- A USBWA Second-Team All-America honoree this season and the only freshman to make the 15-man roster
- A First Team All-SEC and All-Tournament selection
- Became the fourth player in the last 50 years to lead the SEC in scoring as a freshman (19.6 ppg) joining Tennessee’s Bernard King (1975) and LSU’s Chris Jackson (1989) and Cameron Thomas (2021)
- The only player in Division I in the last 30 years to score 685 points, record 290 rebounds and make 105 three-pointers this season
- Scored 210 points against AP Top-25 teams this season
The Wayman Tisdale Award is voted on by the entire membership of the association. It was named the Wayman Tisdale Award in the 2010-11 season in honor of the late three-time USBWA All-American at Oklahoma and the first freshman to receive first-team All-America honors from the USBWA. In March 2007 Tisdale was diagnosed with cancer and, following a courageous and difficult battle that included the amputation of his right leg in 2008, he passed away in May 2009.
The USBWA was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected a women’s All-America team since the 1996-97 season.
