NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player

At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships (the "Final Four" tournaments), the Associated Press selects a Most Outstanding Player. The MOP need not be, but almost always is a member of the Championship team, especially since the third place game was eliminated after 1981. The last man to win the award despite not being on the Championship team was Hakeem Olajuwon in 1983; the last woman to do so was Dawn Staley in 1991. Only one player has been selected as MOP despite not being on his or her team's starting lineup, Louisville's Luke Hancock in 2013. This award is not meant to be considered a Most Valuable Player award, although it is sometimes referred to as such.

Past winners

NCAA Men's Division I MOP Award 1939 – Jimmy Hull, Ohio State 1940 – Marvin Huffman, Indiana 1941 – John Kotz, Wisconsin 1942 – Howie Dallmar, Stanford 1943 – Ken Sailors, Wyoming 1944 – Arnie Ferrin, Utah 1945 – Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M 1946 – Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M 1947 – George Kaftan, Holy Cross 1948 – Alex Groza, Kentucky 1949 – Alex Groza, Kentucky 1950 – Irwin Dambrot, CCNY 1951 – Bill Spivey, Kentucky 1952 – Clyde Lovellette, Kansas 1953 – B. H. Born, Kansas 1954 – Tom Gola, La Salle 1955 – Bill Russell, San Francisco 1956 – Hal Lear, Temple 1957 – Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas 1958 – Elgin Baylor, Seattle 1959 – Jerry West, West Virginia 1960 – Jerry Lucas, Ohio State 1961 – Jerry Lucas, Ohio State 1962 – Paul Hogue, Cincinnati 1963 – Art Heyman, Duke 1964 – Walt Hazzard, UCLA 1965 – Bill Bradley, Princeton 1966 – Jerry Chambers, Utah 1967 – Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), UCLA 1968 – Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), UCLA 1969 – Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), UCLA 1970 – Sidney Wicks, UCLA 1971 – Vacated (Howard Porter, Villanova - later ruled ineligible) 1972 – Bill Walton, UCLA 1973 – Bill Walton, UCLA 1974 – David Thompson, NC State 1975 – Richard Washington, UCLA 1976 – Kent Benson, Indiana 1977 – Butch Lee, Marquette 1978 – Jack Givens, Kentucky 1979 – Earvin Johnson, Michigan State 1980 – Darrell Griffith, Louisville 1981 – Isiah Thomas, Indiana 1982 – James Worthy, North Carolina 1983 – Akeem Olajuwon (later Hakeem Olajuwon), Houston 1984 – Patrick Ewing, Georgetown 1985 – Ed Pinckney, Villanova 1986 – Pervis Ellison, Louisville 1987 – Keith Smart, Indiana 1988 – Danny Manning, Kansas 1989 – Glen Rice, Michigan 1990 – Anderson Hunt, UNLV 1991 – Christian Laettner, Duke 1992 – Bobby Hurley, Duke 1993 – Donald Williams, North Carolina 1994 – Corliss Williamson, Arkansas 1995 – Ed O'Bannon, UCLA 1996 – Tony Delk, Kentucky 1997 – Miles Simon, Arizona 1998 – Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky 1999 – Richard Hamilton, Connecticut 2000 – Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State 2001 – Shane Battier, Duke 2002 – Juan Dixon, Maryland 2003 – Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse 2004 – Emeka Okafor, Connecticut 2005 – Sean May, North Carolina 2006 – Joakim Noah, Florida 2007 – Corey Brewer, Florida 2008 – Mario Chalmers, Kansas 2009 – Wayne Ellington, North Carolina 2010 – Kyle Singler, Duke 2011 – Kemba Walker, Connecticut 2012 – Anthony Davis, Kentucky 2013 – Luke Hancock, Louisville 2014 – Shabazz Napier, Connecticut 2015 – Tyus Jones, Duke 2016 – Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova

NCAA Women's Division I MOP Award 1982 – Janice Lawrence, Louisiana Tech 1983 – Cheryl Miller, Southern California 1984 – Cheryl Miller, Southern California 1985 – Tracy Claxton, Old Dominion 1986 – Clarissa Davis, Texas 1987 – Tonya Edwards, Tennessee 1988 – Erica Westbrooks, Louisiana Tech 1989 – Bridgette Gordon, Tennessee 1990 – Jennifer Azzi, Stanford 1991 – Dawn Staley, Virginia 1992 – Molly Goodenbour, Stanford 1993 – Sheryl Swoopes, Texas Tech 1994 – Charlotte Smith, North Carolina 1995 – Rebecca Lobo, Connecticut 1996 – Michelle Marciniak, Tennessee 1997 – Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee 1998 – Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee 1999 – Ukari Figgs, Purdue 2000 – Shea Ralph, Connecticut 2001 – Ruth Riley, Notre Dame 2002 – Swin Cash, Connecticut 2003 – Diana Taurasi, Connecticut 2004 – Diana Taurasi, Connecticut 2005 – Sophia Young, Baylor 2006 – Laura Harper, Maryland 2007 – Candace Parker, Tennessee 2008 – Candace Parker, Tennessee 2009 – Tina Charles, Connecticut 2010 – Maya Moore, Connecticut 2011 – Danielle Adams, Texas A&M 2012 – Brittney Griner, Baylor 2013 – Breanna Stewart, Connecticut 2014 – Breanna Stewart, Connecticut 2015 – Breanna Stewart, Connecticut 2016 – Breanna Stewart, Connecticut

External links

• Final Four - Most Outstanding Player from Basketball.com
• NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Players History from InsideHoops.com
• NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Players: Where Are They Now? from LostLettermen.com