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Message: [QUOTE="oldude, post: 5299009, member: 7511"] As information, the Naismith trophy for men has been awarded since 1969. The Naismith Trophy for women was added as an afterthought in 1983. The Wooden Trophy for men has been around since 1977. The Wooden Trophy for women was only added as an afterthought in 2004. The Wade trophy, which is only presented to women, has been presented every year since 1978. It was created by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, in part, as an acknowledgment that neither the Atlanta Tipoff Club (Naismith) or the Los Angeles Athletic Club ( Wooden) saw fit to present a women’s award. The only reason that Paige did not win the Wade trophy as a freshman was that freshmen were not eligible for the award at that time. Subsequently, after Paige won just about every other NPOY, the WBCA changed the eligibility to include freshmen. You compare the Naismith trophy to the Heisman trophy. In one sense that’s an apt comparison as both trophies were created for and given only to men, at least initially. You could add the Wooden trophy as well to that comparison. On the other hand, the Wade Trophy which predates the Naismith & Wooden for women by a number of years, celebrates the achievements of women only. In effect, the Wade Trophy is “the granddaddy of them all” when it comes to women’s basketball. The Naismith & Wooden awards are presented by a local group of Atlanta & LA businessmen respectively. The Wade is voted on and awarded by every Division I women’s basketball coach. I will leave it to others to decide for themselves which award is more prestigious. [/QUOTE]

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