Iowa State sophomore Monté Morris and West Virginia senior Juwan Staten are two of the 17 finalists for the 2015 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, presented by College of the Holy Cross. The annual honor is now in its 12th year recognizing the top point guard in men’s college basketball.
The original list had 35 candidates before being trimmed down to 17 by a national committee.
Morris is one of only six freshmen or sophomores on the list. After setting a NCAA record with a 4.79 assist-to-turnover ratio a year ago, he is leading the nation again with a 4.69 ratio. His 5.4 assists per game lead the Big 12. The Flint, Michigan-native has increased his scoring average from 6.8 points as a freshman to 11 points as a sophomore.
Staten is averaging 14.5 points and 4.2 assists on the season and is coming of a 20-point performance versus Kansas, including the game-winning layup with just four seconds remaining. The Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year has helped No. 23 West Virginia to a 20-6 record. Earlier this month, Staten was named to the John R. Wooden Late Season Top 20 list, the Naismith Award Final 30 and is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS award.
The current list of 17 finalists will be narrowed to five players by early March. The final five players in contention for the award will then be presented to the Hall of Fame’s selection committee comprised of top college basketball personnel. The winner of the 2015 Bob Cousy Award will be presented at ESPN’s new College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s from Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, April 10. The show will be televised live on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. CT.
Bob Cousy played for Holy Cross from 1946-1950 winning an NCAA Championship in 1947. He was named a consensus All-America First Team choice in 1950. His success continued at the professional level as a six-time NBA Champion (1957, 1959-1963), NBA Most Valuable Player (1957) and 13-time NBA All-Star (1951-63). In 1996, he was named a member of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
2015 BOB COUSY AWARD CANDIDATES
T.J. McConnell, Arizona
Tyrone Wallace, California
Ryan Boatright, Connecticut
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Keifer Sykes, Wisconsin-Green Bay
Yogi Ferrell, Indiana
Monté Morris, Iowa State
Terry Rozier, Louisville
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
Kris Dunn, Providence
Delon Wright, Utah
Nigel Williams-Goss, Washington
Juwan Staten, West Virginia
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State
Tyus Jones, Duke
Kyle Collinsworth, BYU