Potts Earns Spot on Katrina McClain Award Watch List
Nebraska's Natalie Potts was included on the list of 20 women's college basketball players named to the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List on Thursday, Oct. 30. The McClain Award was the fourth of the Naismith Starting 5 award watch lists announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in partnership with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
Potts, a 6-2 redshirt sophomore from O'Fallon, Mo., returns for her third season at Nebraska in 2025-26. She was the 2023-24 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the fifth game of the 2024-25 campaign. Potts was averaging team bests of 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds through the first four games prior to her injury. She was shooting 69.4 percent from the field, including 72.7 percent (8-11) from three-point range to lead the Big Red to a No. 19 national ranking and a 4-0 start.
In 40-minute production, Potts put up eye-popping numbers of 28.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per 40 to rank among the best players in the Big Ten through the first four games last season.
In 2023-24, Potts led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding (5.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.489), while ranking second among league freshmen in scoring (10.2 ppg) and free throw percentage (.829) in 2023-24. She started all 35 games for the 23-12 Huskers, who advanced to the Big Ten Championship Game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Potts, who won 8-of-15 Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards during the regular season, was the most consistent freshman in the conference from start to finish. She won the inaugural weekly honor on Nov. 13, 2023, before claiming the final two freshman awards on Feb. 26 and March 4. She won at least one weekly honor during all five months of the season. Her eight weekly awards matched the total of fellow Nebraska Big Ten Freshman of the Year Alexis Markowski in 2022.
Potts, who also claimed an honorable-mention All-Big Ten award from the conference media, was a unanimous choice on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by the conference coaches.
After sustaining her knee injury against North Alabama (Nov. 19, 2024), Potts underwent knee surgery on Dec. 4. She continues to rehab with hopes of returning to the court for the Huskers mid-season.
Fan voting for the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award opens the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 31 at http://www.hoophallawards.com. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the McClain Award will be narrowed to 10, before trimming the list to just five players in late February. The five finalists will be presented to the Hall of Fame's selection committee, which will be composed of women's college basketball personnel, media members, head coaches and Hall of Famers.
The 2025 winner of the Katrina McClain Award was LSU's Aneesah Morrow.
Potts and the Huskers open the season against Northwestern State on Monday, Nov. 3 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip-off between Nebraska and the Lady Demons is set for noon (CT), following Nebraska's annual Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally. The rally, which is scheduled to include more than 80 schools from across Nebraska and more than 4,000 middle-grade students and accompanying adults, will begin at 9:30 a.m.