Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale was named the 2017 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Women's Basketball, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. The awards are delivered by UPS, partner of the Naismith Awards since 2014.

First presented in 1982 to Curt Gowdy, the Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Basketball Award is presented annually to individuals whose extraordinary efforts have made contributions of outstanding significance and have created a long-lasting positive impact on the game of basketball. The recipients display character, integrity and dignity, and have contributed mightily to the growth, success and viability of basketball. Voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Directors, Meyers Drysdale and men's basketball recipient Gary Williams will be honored April 2 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"I'm certainly honored and humbled to receive recognition from a game that has given me such great joy. There's so many people who have contributed to put me in this position," said Meyers Drysdale. "To even be considered for the Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Women's Basketball delivered by UPS Award is truly special to me, and I want to thank the Atlanta Tipoff Club for this honor."

"Each year the Atlanta Tipoff Club is proud to honor the men and women who have made the game of basketball so special," said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. "Ann Meyers Drysdale paved the way for women in the game, while Gary Williams influenced hundreds of players in his three decades as a coach."

Meyers Drysdale was the first woman ever to earn a four-year athletic scholarship to UCLA and was also the first four-time All-American. She won the Broderick Cup in 1978 as the most outstanding female athlete in the nation, and she led UCLA to the national championship in 1978. She was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and a charter member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. Additionally, she was part of the FIBA Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2007 and was the first female inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.