U.S. Basketball Writers Association announces NCAA Men's Watch List

U.S. Basketball Writers Association President Dana O'Neil of ESPN.com announced in a press release issued today the USBWA's early-season Watch Lists for men's national player and freshman of the year in college basketball.

The player and freshman of the year awards, along with the Henry Iba Award for national coach of the year, will be announced in March and presented to the winners in Oklahoma City on April 14, 2015.

Heading the lists are preseason picks Marcus Paige of North Carolina for the Oscar Robertson Trophy for player of the year and Jahlil Okafor of Duke for the Wayman Tisdale Award for freshman of the year.  UCLA freshman Kevon Looney and Arizona freshman Stanley Johnson made Wayman Tisdale list as well.

In mid-March, the USBWA will announce its 2013-14 All-America Team and, at that time, finalists will also be chosen for the each award. Once finalists are announced, the entire USBWA membership will vote for the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Wayman Tisdale Award.

Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson.  Creighton's Doug McDermott was the USBWA national player of the year last season.

The USBWA has chosen a national freshman of the year since the 1988-89 season when LSU's Chris Jackson was the recipient. Last season, Duke's Jabari Parker became the fourth winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award. Other notable previous winners of the national freshman of the year award include Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, and Chris Webber.

2014-15 USBWA MEN'S WATCH LISTS

Oscar Robertson Trophy
Ron Baker, Wichita State
Branden Dawson, Michigan State
Sam Dekker, Wisconsin
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
Montrezl Harrell, Louisville
Aaron Harrison, Kentucky
Andrew Harrison, Kentucky
Stanley Johnson, Arizona
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
Caris LeVert, Michigan
Jordan Mickey, LSU
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Jahlil Okafor, Duke
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Terran Petteway, Nebraska
Bobby Portis, Arkansas
Angel Rodriquez, Miami
Juwan Staten, West Virginia
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State
Justise Winslow, Duke
Delon Wright, Utah

Wayman Tisdale Award
Cliff Alexander, Kansas
James Blackmon Jr., Indiana
Daniel Hamilton, UConn
Justin Jackson, North Carolina
Robert Johnson, Indiana
Stanley Johnson, Arizona
Tyus Jones, Duke
Kaleb Joseph, Syracuse
Kevon Looney, UCLA
Trey Lyles, Kentucky
Chris McCullough, Syracuse
Jahlil Okafor, Duke
Chinanu Onuaku, Louisville
Kelly Oubre Jr., Kansas
D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
Reid Travis, Stanford
Myles Turner, Texas
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
Rashad Vaughn, UNLV
Isaiah Whitehead, Seton Hall
Justise Winslow, Duke


By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services