Antonio Reeves Named Finalist for Jerry West Award

Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves is a finalist for a major award

Kentucky Wildcats guard Antonio Reeves was named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award this week, which is given to the nation’s top shooting guard. The other finalists are Caleb Love of Arizona, Kevin McCullar Jr. of Kansas, Tyson Walker of Michigan State and RJ Davis of North Carolina.

Reeves is leading Kentucky and the SEC scoring 20 points per game while shooting 50.9% from the field and 44.2% from behind the three point line. Reeves is also averaging 4.1 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists.

The Senior has scored in double figures in all but one game this season for the Wildcats and has scored over 20 in 17 games. Reeves is only the second player in the Calipari era for Kentucky to score over 20 points in at least 20 games for Kentucky.

Reeves is playing some of his best basketball as of late, scoring at least 20 points in his last five games. Reeves has scored 1,068 points for the Wildcats in his two years here, just 49 points behind Oscar Tshiebwe for the second most in UK history in a two year span and just 145 points behind Bill Spivey for the most all time.

Kentucky is next in action on Wednesday, March 6 at 9 p.m. EST when they play Vanderbilt. The game will air nationally on SEC Network from Rupp Arena.

Fans can support Reeves by participating in fan voting, starting Friday on hoophallawards.com.

Michigan State basketball SG Tyson Walker one of five finalists for Jerry West Award

Michigan State basketball SG Tyson Walker one of five finalists for Jerry West Award

While it has been a bit of an up-and-down season for Tyson Walker, if you look at it as a whole, he is still having one of the best individual scoring seasons in recent Michigan State basketball history. Walker continue to gets recognition for his performance this year nationally, and on Tuesday, was named as one of five finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.

Walker is averaging 18 points per game this year and has scored in double figures in every single game.

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Florida shooting guard Riley Kugel makes Jerry West Award watch list

This Florida Gators shooting guard was added to the Jerry West Award watch list on Tuesday ahead of tipoff for the 2023 season.

Florida men’s basketball season is just beyond the horizon and fans are eagerly awaiting the opening tip.

Head coach Todd Golden returns to the bench for his second year after an early bounce from the NIT, no thanks to the UCF Knights. The 2023-24 squad is young and formidable, and there are seven transfers helping to fill space on the roster.

One of the young weapons who’s expected to make an immediate impact is sophomore shooting guard [autotag]Riley Kugel[/autotag]. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has high expectations for the Orlando, Florida, native, adding his name to the Jerry West Award watch list for the season.

The award is given to the best-performing shooting guard of the season and Kugel joins a watch list with 19 other guards in Division I basketball.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame president John L. Doleva says the list was carefully chosen by a committee of top college basketball personnel.

“Each of the student-athletes nominated for the 2024 Jerry West Award has the same skillset that made Jerry West a household name, and they should be very proud of this accomplishment,” Doleva said.  “Our committee, alongside Jerry, is honored to watch this exceptional group and work together to narrow down the list as the season progresses.”

Kugel adds to a list of accolades amassed over short time. The sophomore earned a second-team All-SEC nod last week and collected SEC All-Freshman Honors in 2022.

The Florida begins its season on Nov. 6 against the Loyola Marymount Greyhounds inside the the O’Connell Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. EDT and will broadcast on the SEC Network+.

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Santiago Vescovi named to Jerry West Award preseason watch list

Santiago Vescovi named to Jerry West Award preseason watch list.

Tennessee guard Santiago Vescovi has been named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award preseason watch list by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The award is named in honor of Jerry West, a 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player, and recognizes the top shooting guard in NCAA Division I men’s college basketball.

Vescovi is one of 20 candidates on the watch list, determined by a national panel of basketball personnel.

Vescovi averaged 12.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game last season. He helped lead Tennessee to a 25-11 (11-7 SEC) record, advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season.

Michigan State basketball guard named to Jerry West award watchlist

Michigan State basketball guard named to Jerry West award watchlist

It’s watchlist season for college basketball, and while one Michigan State basketball guard, A.J. Hoggard was snubbed from one watchlist, another was given recognition, as Tyson Walker made the Jerry West award watchlist, given to the top shooting guard in Division I college basketball.

Walker, a former transfer from Northeastern University, started his career as a point guard, but broke out last year after he moved over to shooting guard for the Spartans.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

Santiago Vescovi named top-10 candidate for Jerry West Award

Santiago Vescovi named top-10 candidate for the Jerry West Award.

Tennessee senior guard Santiago Vescovi was named a top-10 candidate for the Jerry West Award, the James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Tuesday.

The award, in its ninth year, recognizes the best shooting guard in the nation. The list will be narrowed to five finalists in March.

Through the Vols’ first 23 games, Vescovi is averaging 11.9 points per contest and is the team’s leading scorer. He leads Tennessee in minutes per game (31.9) and 3-point field goals (48).

Vescovi is shooting 35.8 percent from beyond the 3-point attempts in Southeastern Conference play.

Vescovi is fifth in program history with 239 made 3-point attempts and is Tennessee’s 44th all-time leading scorer with 1,142 career points.

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Gators guard Scottie Lewis named to Jerry West Award watch list

Dynamic guard Scottie Lewis found his name on a shortlist of players on watch for one of college basketball’s most prestigious awards.

Sophomore Gators guard Scottie Lewis has been named to the preseason Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award watch list, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday.

He is one of 20 players across the country named to the watch list for the award, which will be announced on April 9, 2021. There are three rounds of voting, with the first round beginning on Nov. 6. The list will be narrowed from 20 to 10 by mid-February, and then it will be cut to five in March.

Lewis was a five-star recruit in the 2019 recruiting class, and he had a productive freshman season that saw him average 8.5 points and 3.6 rebounds.

He led the team in blocked shots with 36, the first-ever guard to do so, and he also led the team in free throw percentage (.817).

An SEC All-Freshman team selection, he totaled 10 double-figure scoring games.

Lewis chose not to test the NBA Draft waters following the premature cancelation of the 2019-20 college basketball season, and he returns to Gainesville as one of the most highly anticipated players in the nation.

Here’s the full watch list for the Jerry West Award.

 2021 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Watch List

John Petty Jr. Alabama
Terry Taylor Austin Peay
MaCio Teague Baylor
Matt Bradley California
James Bouknight Connecticut
Mitch Ballock Creighton
Kellan Grady Davidson
Antoine Davis Detroit Mercy
DJ Steward Duke
Scottie Lewis Florida
MJ Walker Florida State
Joel Ayayi Gonzaga
Caleb Mills Houston
Joe Wieskamp Iowa
Ochai Agbaji Kansas
Terrence Clarke Kentucky
Franz Wagner Michigan
Jordan Goodwin Saint Louis
Justin Moore Villanova
Paul Scruggs Xavier

*Players can play their way onto and off of the list at any point in the 2020-21 season

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