Georgia freshman Anthony Edwards is one of five finalists for the 2020 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Tuesday.
The annual honor in its sixth year recognizes the top shooting guards in Division I men's college basketball. The other four finalists are Mason Jones from Arkansas, Kamar Baldwin from Butler, Ty-Shon Alexander from Creighton and Myles Powell from Seton Hall.
The award is named for West, the Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player Jerry West.
Edwards, an Atlanta native, is the nation's freshman scoring leader this season, averaging 19.8 points per game. He is the only freshman ranked among the top-50 scorers in the country and is one of just three in the top-100. Edwards has scored in double figures in 25 of the Bulldogs' 29 games, with 13 20-point performances and three 30-point efforts. He has been named SEC Freshman of the Week a school-record four times, including each of the past two weeks.
A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 players in October, which was narrowed to 10 candidates in early February and now just five finalists. The winner will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee and announced on April 10along with the other four members of the Naismith 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 RJ Barrett, Duke (2019), Carsen Edwards, Purdue (2018), Malik Monk, Kentucky (2017), Buddy Hield, Oklahoma (2016) and D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State (2015).
