SPRINGFIELD, MASS. - The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the five finalists for the 2024 Jerry West Award on Tuesday and Arizona's
Caleb Love was one of the finalists.
The Jerry West Award, named after the Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player, celebrates its 10th year by highlighting the top shooting guards in Division I men's college basketball.
The five finalists are:
Caleb Love (Arizona)
Kevin McCullar Jr. (Kansas)
Antonio Reeves (Kentucky)
Tyson Walker (Michigan State)
RJ Davis (North Carolina)
Love is one of the leading candidates for Pac-12 Player of the Year and All-American honors while leading Arizona to a 23-6 overall record and first place in the Pac-12 standings heading into the final week of the regular season. He's averaging 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting a career-best percentage from the floor (43.5%) and from the 3-point line (36.2%). The St. Louis native has scored 20 or more points 14 times this season, including in each of his first five Pac-12 road games. He scored 36 points in the win at Oregon on Jan. 27 to set a record for the most point scored in Matthew Knight Arena.
Love's impact on the game goes far beyond just his shooting numbers. He has 102 assists and just 54 turnovers. His previous career low for turnovers in a season was 80. He has continued to be active on the defensive end as well, registering 35 steals, which is two shy of his career high. And he is doing all of this while playing three minutes per game fewer than he did last season at North Carolina.
Fans can support their favorite player by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, March 8, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
Later this month, the finalists will be presented to the Jerry West and the Hall of Fame's selection committees. The Selection Committees for the Jerry West Award is composed of top men's college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.
The winner of the 2024 Jerry West Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men's and Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard), Julius Erving Award (Small Forward), Karl Malone Award (Power Forward), and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center).
Previous winners of the Jerry West Award are Marcus Sasser, Houston (2023), Johnny Davis, Wisconsin (2022), Chris Duarte, Oregon (2021), Myles Powell, Seton Hall (2020), RJ Barrett, Duke (2019), Carsen Edwards, Purdue (2018), Malik Monk, Kentucky (2017), Buddy Hield, Oklahoma (2016), and D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State (2015).
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