OKLAHOMA CITY – 14 of the 2019 Top 50 “Watch List” athletes join 36 other student-athletes on the “Watch List” for the 2020 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. Announced today by USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award enters its 18th season and recognizes outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female collegiate softball players across the country.

Previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, the most prestigious individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, are UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman (2002), Texas pitcher Cat Osterman (2003, 2005 and 2006), Florida State pitcher Jessica Van der Linden (2004), Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott (2007), Virginia Tech pitcher Angela Tincher (2008), Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie (2009 and 2010), Stanford shortstop Ashley Hansen (2011), Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts (2012 and 2013), Florida State's Lacey Waldrop (2014), Florida’s Lauren Haeger (2015), Michigan’s Sierra Romero (2016), Florida’s Kelly Barnhill (2017) and UCLA’s Rachel Garcia (2018 and 2019). 

The preseason “Watch List” includes 28 seniors, 13 juniors and 9 sophomores, with freshman ineligible for consideration. (Freshman can be considered for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award once they have competed at the collegiate level).  Athletes named to the “Watch List” represent 33 NCAA Division I universities and 19 athletic conferences. UCLA leads the way among universities with four athlete representatives, while five universities (Alabama, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington) have three athletes on the “Watch List” apiece. The Pac-12 and Big Ten Conferences are also well-represented with five member-schools, while four universities represent the Southeastern Conference (SEC). 

The Top 25 Finalists for the 2018 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced on April 22. While an athlete does not have to be on the “Watch List” to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists. The Top 10 Finalists will be announced May 6 and the Top 3 announced May 20. The 2020 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed on May 26. 

In addition to bestowing the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, USA Softball is now in its 18th season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll which is announced Tuesdays during the regular season. The preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll was released Jan. 28 with Alabama, Washington, Oklahoma, UCLA and Arizona taking the Top 5 spots respectively. 

Follow along with NCAA Softball all season long at USASoftball.com.

About USA Softball
USA Softball (USAS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USAS sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations.  USAS is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch.  USAS annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.  The USAS umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USAS is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USAS, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.