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Around Cincinnati, big things are expected of sophomore guard Jacob Evans this season. It appears that those expectations are not unique to the Queen City, as Evans has landed on the national radar as the 2016-17 season inches closer. Yesterday, Evans was named one of 20 preseason candidates on the Jerry West Award watch list.
The award is a relatively new one. In fact it is so young it may not have spoken its first word, with just two previous awards given out. The first was handed out in 2015 when Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell received the honor. Last year, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield won the trophy, which honors the best shooting guard in the country.
As a true freshman, Evans averaged 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while putting up a shooting split of .372/.333/.804. He had an offensive rating of 113.7 and a defensive rating of 95.9 while accounting for 3.2 win shares, ranking fourth behind Gary Clark, Troy Caupain and Octavius Ellis for UC.
Evans will be competing with a strong group of guards for the honor including Duke’s Grayson Allen, Kentucky’s Malik Monk, Michigan State’s Eron Harris and SMU’s Shake Milton, the only other player from the American Athletic Conference on the watch list.