Gophers' Banham Named Big 10 Preseason Player Of The Year
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The college basketball season hasn't started yet, but the University of Minnesota women's basketball team is already getting attention across the Big Ten Conference.
Senior guard Rachel Banham was named the league's Preseason Player of the Year Thursday morning by both the coaches and the media involved in the Big Ten. Banham was a unanimous All-Big Ten First Team pick last year after leading the league in scoring at more than 22 points per game.
She was also a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award and named Honorable Mention for the Associated Press and Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America teams. Banham set Gophers single-season records last year with 750 points and 93 made 3-pointers.
Banham enters her senior year seven points away from 2,000 for her career and is on pace to break at least six Minnesota records, including the career scoring mark set by Lindsay Whalen of 2,285 points.
Sophomore center Amanda Zahui was also named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team.