The finalists for the awards presented to the top college basketball players in the state have been announced.
The C-Spire Gillom Trophy is awarded to the top women’s basketball player in the state, and all three finalists are from Mississippi State. Senior All-American center Teaira McCowan, senior guard Jordan Danberry and graduate transfer forward Anriel Howard are the finalists for the award named after Peggie Gillom-Granderson, Ole Miss’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder. She coached in the WNBA and the Olympics and retired after a seven-year stint as Associate Head Coach of the Lady Rebels basketball team at Ole Miss.
McCowan’s 17.3 points per game lead all finalists, and she is followed by Howard ’s 16 points per game and Danberry’s 13.4 point average.
The finalists for the C-Spire Howell Trophy include Mississippi State senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, Ole Miss junior guard Breein Tyree and Southern Miss senior guard Cortez Edwards. Weatherspoon won the award in 2018 and is looking to become a back-to-back recipient.
Weatherspoon leads the male finalists in scoring with 18.6 points per game while Tyree averaged 18.3 points a game and Edwards is putting up 14.5 points per game.
The Howell Trophy is named after Bailey Howell, a two-time All-American at Mississippi State and a six-time NBA All-Star who played on Boston Celtics world championship teams in 1968 and 1969. Howell, a 1977 inductee to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the first male Mississippi player inducted in the National Basketball Hall of Fame, still holds nearly a dozen season and career records at Mississippi State.
The winners will be selected through a combination of another round of media votes and a fan vote conducted by C Spire. Fans may vote online for their favorite players from Tuesday, March 5 at 8:30 a.m. CT through Saturday, March 9 at noon CT. Each fan with a valid email address may vote up to three times daily. The fan vote counts for a weighted 10 percent of the final total and has helped decide the winner several times in recent years.
The winners will be announced on March 11th at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
