Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List

Smith Tabbed to Naismith Player of the Year Watch List

 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue junior guard Braden Smith has been selected as one of 25 players named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Year watch list.

 

Smith is looking to become the second straight Boilermaker to win the award after Zach Edey won the honor the previous two seasons.

 

Smith opened the 2024-25 exhibition season last Saturday night, with a 31-point, seven-rebound, four-assist performance against Creighton.

 

Smith is coming off a record-breaking season for the Boilermakers, setting a school and Big Ten record with 292 assists, while being the only player in America to average at least 12.0 points, 7.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. He became just the second player in NCAA history to amass at least 450 points, 275 assists and 225 rebounds in a season (BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth – 2015-16 season).

 

Smith would finish the season averaging 12.0 points, 7.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 43.1 percent from 3-point range.

 

For his career, Smith has 808 points, 445 assists and 373 rebounds in just 74 games. He is one of six players (Magic Johnson, Kenny Anderson, Nick Calathes, D.J. Cooper, Ja Morant) to have at least 800 points, 425 assists and 350 rebounds by the end of his sophomore season. He currently already ranks eighth on Purdue’s career assists list and needs just 245 helpers to set the school record for career assists. His 445 assists are the second most in Big Ten history through the end of his sophomore campaign (Magic Johnson – 491).

 

Purdue will host Grand Valley State on Oct. 30, in Mackey Arena, in its final exhibition tuneup.

 

Smith and the Boilermakers will then open the regular-season Nov. 4, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Garcia Earns Spot on Naismith Trophy Watch List

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota senior forward Dawson Garcia has earned a spot on the 2024-25 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List, presented today by Axia Time.

Already tabbed as a preseason All-Big Ten Team honoree for the second straight year, Garcia is one of 50 players on the Naismith Trophy list, including one of 10 from the Big Ten. The Savage, Minn., product was also named a top-50 preseason pick by ESPN and CBS Sports earlier this month, as well as the Blue Ribbon Preseason All-Big Ten list.

Garcia, a 2024 second and third-team All-Big Ten selection, averaged 17.6 points and is the top returning Big Ten scorer from a year ago. Of the returning Big Ten athletes, Garcia ranks first in scoring and is only one of six returners who received All-Big Ten honors in the 2023-24 season. An Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Garcia was also a NABC All-District Second Team selection last year and a top 10 finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. Along with his team-high 17.6 ppg, Garcia also led the team with 6.7 rebounds per game. He had 28 double-digit games, 12 20-point games and three 30-point games.

Garcia enters the 2024-25 season with 1,438 career points, including 943 points as a Golden Gopher. Garcia amassed 398 points in the 2022-23 season and another 545 in the 2023-24 campaign. He was the first player since Jordan Murphy in 2017-18 to lead the Gophers in both points (17.6) and rebounds (6.7) in a season.

A midseason watch list with 30 players is scheduled for a mid-February announcement. From there, 10 national semifinalists will be released on March 14, while the four finalists will be unveiled on March 25. The 2024 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy will be awarded during the Final Four at the Naismith Awards ceremony on April 6.

Ace Baldwin Jr. Named to Naismith Player of the Year Watch List

Baldwin Jr. continues preseason honors haul

 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men’s basketball graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. has been named to the 2024-25 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club Wednesday afternoon.

 

The Naismith National Player of the Year Watch List adds to Baldwin Jr.’s growing list of preseason honors that also includes landing on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List and being named a Preseason All-Big Ten selection.

 

Baldwin Jr. enters his fifth year of eligibility in 2024-25 as the only active Division I player with 1,000+ career points (1,297), 600+ career assists (618) and 250+ career steals (271).

 

The point guard is coming off a senior season in which he was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, a Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist, a Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Finalist, an NABC Second Team All-District 7 selection, a third-team All-Big Ten (coaches & media) pick and a Big Ten All-Defensive Team honoree.

 

The Baltimore, Md. native wrapped up his first season in the Blue & White leading the Nittany Lions with 14.2 points, 6.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game in 2023-24. He was one of just four Big Ten players since 1992-93 (31 years) and the first since 2011-12 to finish a season averaging 14.0+ points per game, 6.0+ assists per game and 2.0+ steals per game.

 

Baldwin Jr.’s 2.67 steals per game in 2023-24 were the most by a Big Ten player in a single season since the 1992-93 season (31 years). He finished the season ranked fourth in the country in steals per game (2.67), fifth in steals (88), 20th in assists (199) and 24th in assists per game (6.0). His 199 assists last season were the second-most all-time in a single season at Penn State, while his 88 steals ranked third-most in the Penn State single-season record book.

 

The point guard transferred to Penn State ahead of the 2023-24 season following three standout years at VCU in which he was a two-time All-Conference pick and the 2023 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

 

Baldwin Jr. and the Nittany Lions kick off the 2024-25 season on Monday, Nov. 4, when Penn State hosts Binghamton inside the Bryce Jordan Center.