Destinee Wells Selected to Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List

HOPEWELL, N.J. – For the second consecutive year, Belmont University women's basketball's Destinee Wells has been named to the preseason watch list for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. The junior guard is one of 25 players from 13 conferences to appear on the mid-major player of the year watch list and joins Murray State junior forward Katelyn Young as the only representatives out of the Missouri Valley conference.
 
First given out in 2020, South Dakota's Ciara Duffy won the inaugural Becky Hammon Award and Florida Gulf Coast's Kierstan Bell claimed the national honor each of the last two seasons.
 
Earlier in the week, Wells was tabbed MVC Preseason Player of the Year and was selected as one of 20 watch-list candidates for the prestigious Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Nancy Lieberman Award.
 
Nothing shy of extraordinary in her first two seasons leading the Bruins' backcourt, Wells enters the 2022-23 campaign only 36 points shy of becoming Belmont's 33rd 1,000-point scorer. In addition to her scoring ability, Wells has accumulated 255 assists, 188 rebounds and 91 steals in her first 56 games. She has averaged 17.2 points, 4.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals while reaching double figures in 43 of her last 45 games and 51 of 56 career games. Having started in all but one game she has donned the Bruin jersey, Wells was the only freshman in the nation to average at least 17.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.4 steals in 2020-21.
 
Over the last two NCAA Tournaments against some of the biggest names in the game, the Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), native averaged 19.8 points and five assists with 20-point outings versus Tennessee and Gonzaga. Named Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Year following the 2021-22 season, Wells claimed back-to-back spots on the All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team and was tabbed All-American honorable mention by World Exposure Report at the conclusion of her sophomore season. Wells became only the second player in OVC history chosen as OVC Tournament MVP as both a freshman and sophomore upon leading Belmont to its sixth OVC Tournament title in seven years.
 
Reaching double figures in all but two games in 2021-22 (29), seven of Wells' 11 20-point performances took place during the most important months of the season – February and March. She ranked among the top 65 players in the nation in both total assists (140) and assists per game (4.5) while finishing her sophomore season with 519 points and 112 rebounds. Wells is a career 81.4 percent (197-of-242) free-throw shooter.
 
To be eligible for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, players must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be "mid-major" – excluding the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC. In January, 15 players will be named to the midseason watch list. The 10 semifinalists will be announced in February with five finalists being announced in early March. The winner will be announced in late March. The list is fluid and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the season.

About Becky Hammon
Hammon was a three-time All-American during her career at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999, the program's only appearance to date. She was signed by the New York Liberty in 1999 and traded to the San Antonio Stars in 2007, where she played the rest of her career. Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016 she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was recently named to the W25. Hammon became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Additionally, Hammon is the only woman to be a head coach in the NBA Summer League as well as the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff. Currently, Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and won the 2022 WNBA Championship in her first season.

About Her Hoop Stats
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. It began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game providing content through its newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).

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