🏀 Agbaji Named to Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Watch List
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Kansas senior Ochai Agbaji has been named to the 10-member watch list for the 2022 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today.
The annual honor in its eighth year recognizes the top shooting guards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in November, which has now been narrowed to 10.
Selected the Big 12 Player of the Week two of the past three weeks (Jan. 17 and 24) and three times this season, Agbaji leads the Big 12 and is 12th nationally in scoring at 20.9 points per game. The Kansas City, Missouri, guard is second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (46.4%, 10th nationally) and in three-point field goals made per game (3.2, 21st nationally). Agbaji has scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season, including a career-high 37 points in the double-overtime win against No. 13 Texas Tech on Jan. 24.
Named after Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player Jerry West, joining Agbaji on the 10-person list is Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona), Adam Flagler (Baylor), Izaiah Brockington (Iowa State), TyTy Washington (Kentucky), Jaden Ivey (Purdue), Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse), Johnny Juzang (UCLA), Justin Moore (Villanova) and Johnny Davis (Wisconsin).
College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting. In late February, the watch list of 10 players for the 2022 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award will be narrowed to five. In March those finalists will be presented to Mr. West and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.
The winner of the 2022 Jerry West Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award, the Karl Malone Power Forward Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award, in addition to the Women’s Starting Five.
Previous winners of the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award include 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).
No. 10 Kansas (17-3, 6-1) will play at No. 20 Iowa State (16-5, 3-5) Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. on ESPN. ISU is the third of five-straight ranked foes on Kansas’ schedule.
Ochai Agbaji’s 2021-22 Honors
Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award 10 Watch List
Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List
Big 12 Player of the Week (1.24.22)
The Sporting News Midseason All-American Second Team
Big 12 Player of the Week (1.17.22)
Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List
Big 12 Player of the Week (11.15.21)
Naismith Trophy Watch List
NABC Player of the Year Watch List
Preseason All-Big 12
