Past Mercury Players Win Special College Award

The Big Ten Player of the Year is awarded every year, and the first player to win it was Laura Coenen. She won it in 1983, and she attended Minnesota. Then, Anucha Browne won it the next two seasons, and she was playing well for Northwestern. Tracey Hall won the next two seasons, and she attended Ohio State. More players began to win the award, and in 1993, Toni Foster won it. A few years after winning the award, Foster would join the Phoenix Mercury. She was the eighth pick of the 1997 WNBA Draft, and in a draft where the Mercury had picks in each round, she was their first. Foster averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and an assist in her first season with the Mercury, and she played with them for two more seasons. The forward attended Iowa before coming to Phoenix. Another player with Mercury ties won it a few years later, as Tangela Smith won in 1998. She also played for Iowa, and she averaged 19.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.4 steals and 1.3 assists that season. Smith was later drafted b