XRM is up for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard. Twenty players are named to each watch list.
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Niang has been listed on the Karl Malone Award watch list, an award given to the nation’s best power forward.
The award is named after Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy.
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level – professional, collegiate and high school, for both men and women on the global stage.
Smith-Rivera was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection in 2014-15, in addition to being named to the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District II Team and to the All-District 5 Team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He can play on the wing or slide to the off-guard spot and help handle the ball if Louisville wants to use Lee and 6-7 freshman Deng Adel at the same time.
He comes into 2015-16 just nine 3-pointers shy of breaking the program’s all-time record, is seventh with 104 steals in just three seasons and ranks 16 in career points with 1,165. His 2.6 assists per game ranked 12th in the Big 12.
Sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr. was named to the watch list for the 2016 Jerry West Award, which honors the nation’s top shooting guard. This past summer, Selden was the second overall leading scorer at the World University Games with a 19.3-point average in leading United States of America to the gold medal.
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The list of 36 names will be cut down to 20 candidates in early February and down to a final five by early March.
