Like the Cousy Award, which we wrote about right here, the Jerry West Award looks to honor one of the premier backcourt players in college basketball. The difference is this award recognizes the best shooting guard in all of Division I hoops. On Tuesday, the list of 10 finalists was released by the National Basketball Hall of Fame, here they are:
- Grayson Allen, Duke
- Malcolm Brogdon, Viginia
- A.J. English, Iona
- Josh Hart, Villanova
- Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
- Malcolm Hill, Illinois
- Julian Jacobs, USC
- Jalen Jones, Texas A&M
- Caris LeVert, Michigan
- Sheldon McClellan, Miami
This list shows how stacked the list of shooting guards is in college hoops this year. It also has a no-doubt frontrunner in Hield, who will probably win this award in addition to just about every National Player of the Year [Ben Simmons may have something to say, but yeah… —Ed.] honor that gets handed out at the end of the season. That’s not to say that there aren’t guys who deserve to be considered in the conversation—Allen, Brogdon, and Hart have especially been outstanding this year—but this award is Hield’s to lose.
The list will be cut down one more time, and the five guys who make the final cut will get the chance to meet West later this year. The award will be given out on April 8, the same day and location (Club Nokia in Los Angeles) as the Cousy Award.
