Butler, Ebanks Make Watch List
ATLANTA – West Virginia University’s Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks are among 50 players under consideration for the Naismith Trophy, awarded to college basketball’s top player. The initial list was announced today.
Butler was named to the all-Big East preseason first team chosen last week by the conference coaches while Ebanks was picked to the second team.
Butler, a senior, averaged 17.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last year for the Mountaineers. Ebanks was third on the team in scoring as a freshman averaging 10.5 points per game while also grabbing a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game.
Earlier today, West Virginia cracked the preseason Top 25 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN coaches’ polls.
The Big XII Conference has claimed two of the last three Naismith Trophies for Men’s College Player of the Year, and has done so with a sophomore (Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, 2009) and a freshman (Kevin Durant, Texas, 2007). The tide may turn in 2010 as upperclassman claim 33 of the 50 spots in the Naismith 2009-10 preseason watch list, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. Seniors (19) and juniors (14) lead the way followed by 12 sophomores and five freshmen.
Two conferences – the Big East and Atlantic Coast – placed nine representatives apiece while the Big XII and SEC each had eight. Big XII member Kansas was represented by three players while six other schools featured two candidates.
The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2009-10 college basketball season. The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis, Ind.
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