A total of 10 different men’s basketball student-athletes from four different Big 12 schools have been recognized on four watch lists announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Kansas led the way with four players earning accolades, as Perry Ellis (Karl Malone Award), Frank Mason (Bob Cousy Award) and Wayne Selden and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Julius Erving Award) were all included. Iowa State had two representatives – Monte Morris is on the Cousy list while Georges Niang is part of the Malone listing, while forwards Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince of Baylor and Ryan Spangler from Oklahoma were also named to the Malone list. Buddy Hield of OU – the returning Big 12 Player of the Year - was the conference’s lone representative on the Jerry West Award List.
Gathers was named a second-team All-American and an All-Big 12 First Team honoree following his junior season. He led the Big 12 Conference and broke Baylor’s single-season rebounding record with 394 boards. The forward has played in all 109 games during his three years at Baylor and started all 37 games a season ago.
Prince was named Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year following a breakout junior season. An All-Big 12 Second Team honoree, he led the Bears with 13.9 points in just 26.3 minutes per game and ranked third in the Big 12 with 15.6 points per contest in conference play. Following the season he earned a spot on Team USA for the 2015 Pan American Games, where he started every game and helped the squad to a bronze medal.
Morris was a finalist for the Cousy Award last season after finishing second on the team with 11.9 points per game and leading the Big 12 with a 5.2 assist average and nation’s-best 4.63 assist-to-turnover ratio. Niang was a finalist for the Malone honor last season while averaging 15.3 points and earning All-America accolades. He returns for his senior season fifth among active NCAA Division I players in scoring (1,510) and the only player with 1,500 points, 450 rebounds and 300 assists.
Ellis was the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top seven in scoring, field goal percentage and rebounding in 2014-15. A two-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree, he is on pace to rank in the top 15 on Kansas’ career points and career rebounds and could become just the eighth Jayhawk to accomplish the feat.
Selden has started all 71 games played at Kansas and averaged 9.4 points last season. He led the Jayhawks with 46 field goals made from 3-point range and was second in assists with 95. His 2.6 assists per game ranked 12th in the Big 12. This past summer, Selden was the second overall leading scorer at the World University Games with a 19.3-point average in leading USA to the gold medal.
Mykhailiuk started six games last season for Kansas and averaged 11.2 minutes and 2.8 points per contest. A 3-point threat when on the floor, 15 of his 26 field goals made last season were from beyond the arc.
Mason ranked ninth in the Big 12 and second at KU in scoring at 12.6 points per game. He was also among the league leaders in assists, steals, free throw percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio. Like Selden, Mason was a main cog in the World University Games gold medal run as he averaged 14.5 points in the eight victories.
Hield led the Big 12 in scoring a year ago with 17.4 points per game, increasing that to a league-best 18.5-points per game in Big 12 competition. The senior was also an Academic All-Big 12 First Team choice in 2014-15. Spangler earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention a year ago after finishing with 9.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame oversees a total of five awards named after legendary hall of famers at each position – point guard (Cousy), shooting guard (West), small forward (Erving), power forward (Malone), and center (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Watch List will be announced on October 16.
Each award will be narrowed down to 10 in mid-February and five finalists will be selected in March. The award winners will be named April 8, 2016 at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show.
2016 BOB COUSY AWARD WATCH LIST
Monte Morris, Iowa State
Frank Mason, Kansas
2016 JERRY WEST SHOOTING GUARD OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
2016 JULIUS ERVING SMALL FORWARD OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Kansas
Wayne Selden, Jr., Kansas
2016 KARL MALONE POWER FORWARD OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST
Rico Gathers, Baylor
Taurean Prince, Baylor
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Perry Ellis, Kansas
Ryan Spangler, Oklahoma