Maddy Siegrist, Jordan Dingle named Big 5 players of the year
Siegrist, the nation's leading scorer, won the women's award for the third straight year.
Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist was named Big 5 women’s player of the year for the third straight year, while Jordan Dingle became the first Penn player to win men’s player of the year in over a decade, as the awards for the 2022-23 season were announced Tuesday.
In other Big 5 awards, Villanova’s Denise Dillon and La Salle’s Fran Dunphy were named coaches of the year. Villanova’s Cam Whitmore and Laura Ziegler of St. Joseph’s are the rookies of the year.
On the women’s side, Villanova’s Christina Dalce was named most improved player, and Talya Brugler of St. Joe’s was named the Big 5′s scholar-athlete.
Siegrist and Brugler are joined on the All-Big 5 first team by a trio of guards, Kayla Padilla of Penn, Aleah Nelson of Temple, and Lucy Olsen of Villanova. Dalce is joined on the second team by Ziegler and Mackenzie Smith of St. Joe’s, Kayla Spruill of La Salle, and Jordan Obi of Penn.
On the men’s side, Cameron Brown of St. Joe’s and Penn’s Nick Spinoso were named co-most improved players, while Villanova’s Caleb Daniels was named scholar-athlete of the year.
Dingle, the first Penn player of the year since Zack Rosen in 2012, breaks a six-year Villanova hold on the award. Dingle and Daniels were joined on the first team by Damian Dunn (Temple), Erik Reynolds II of Saint Joseph’s, Khalil Brantley from La Salle, and Villanova’s Eric Dixon.
The second team included Whitmore and Justin Moore from Villanova, Brown and Lynn Greer III from St. Joe’s, and La Salle’s Josh Nickelberry.
The awards will be handed out at Monday’s Big 5 banquet at the Palestra (doors open at 6 p.m., the awards ceremony starts at 7, and tickets are $20 at the door).
As it happens, Siegrist will be otherwise occupied, since she’ll be in New York for Monday’s WNBA draft. Siegrist is projected to be a first-round pick.