HOPEWELL, N.J. – Furman’s Clare Coyle has been named to the 25-player watch list for the 2027 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, Her Hoop Stats announced Wednesday.
The Paladins’ junior has played 63 games over her first two seasons at Furman. After not playing a game as a freshman, she started all 31 contests during her sophomore campaign. In 2025-26, Coyle averaged 14.8 points and 9.1 rebounds, ranking fourth and first in the conference, respectively. She recorded 11 double-doubles while also totaling 63 steals and 43 blocks in her second season as Paladin.
In addition to leading her team in several statistical categories, the Jacksonville, Florida native earned selection to the 2025-2026 All-SoCon First Team, All-Defensive Team, All-Tournament Second Team, All-Academic Team, and Academic Honor Roll. She also collected two SoCon Player of the Week Honors.
A member of the Preseason All-SoCon Team, Coyle enters 2026-27 leading the conference in rebounding, field goal percentage, and steals.
Coyle is the first SoCon player to be named to the preseason watch list since 2024-25.
To be eligible for this award, players must compete in a conference deemed to be “mid-major.” The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, and SEC. Players competing in the re-formed Pac-12 are eligible. The 15-player midseason watch list will be announced in January, followed by 10 semifinalists announced in February. The five finalists will be announced in early March, with the winner announced around the Final Four. The list is fluid, and players may play their way on or off of it over the course of the season.
This year’s watch list includes representatives from 21 teams and 16 conferences.
About Becky Hammon
Hammon was a three-time All-American at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999. She signed with the New York Liberty in 1999 and was traded to San Antonio in 2007, where she played the rest of her WNBA career. Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016, she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was named to the W25 in 2021. Hammon became the first woman to serve as a full-time NBA assistant coach when she joined the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. She later became the first woman to serve as head coach in NBA Summer League and the first woman to be part of an NBA All-Star coaching staff. Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and has won the 2022, 2023 and 2025 WNBA Championships.
About Her Hoop Stats
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. We began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game, providing content through our newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram).
About the SoCon
The Southern Conference (SoCon), founded in 1921 and headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is an NCAA Division I conference comprised of 11 member institutions across the Southeast. The SoCon sponsors 19 championship sports and is recognized for its tradition of athletic achievement, academic excellence, and student-athlete development. #ItsAllHere