Tennessee junior Jordan Bone is one of 20 players on the 2019 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award watch list, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Monday.
Named after Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy, the annual honor now in its 16th year recognizes the top point guards in Division I basketball. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel selected the 20-man watch list.
Bone is one of three SEC point guards on the watch list (complete list below), and Tennessee will face three candidates this season—four if the Vols meet Kansas in November’s NIT Season Tip-Off.
By mid-February, the 20-player watch list will be narrowed to 10. In March, the names of five finalists will be presented to Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2019 Bob Cousy Award will be announced at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show after the Final Four in April.
Entering his third season as a starter, Bone’s career assist/turnover ratio stands at 2.50 through 58 games (the UT career record is 2.20 by Jon Higgins). Bone’s team-best 2.82 assist/turnover ratio last season was the second-best in program history, and he had a positive ratio in 29 of UT’s 35 games on the year.
He led the 2018 SEC Champion Volunteers in assists with 3.5 per game and a career-best total of 124, and he enters the 2018-19 campaign 10 assists shy of 200 for his career.
The Nashville native’s field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage, free-throw percentage and assists numbers as a sophomore all improved from his freshman year. His steals total more than doubled. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has long touted Bone’s on-court speed and acceleration as “elite,” and Barnes recently stated that Bone was UT’s most improved player this past offseason.
Barnes has previously developed one Bob Cousy Award winner, as Texas point guard D.J. Augustin—now with the Orlando Magic—claimed the award in 2008.
Other previous winners include Jalen Brunson of Villanova (2018), Frank Mason III of Kansas (2017), Tyler Ulis of Kentucky (2016), Delon Wright of Utah (2015), Shabazz Napier of Connecticut (2014), Trey Burke of Michigan (2013), Kendall Marshall of North Carolina (2012), Kemba Walker of UConn (2011), Greivis Vasquez of Maryland (2010), Ty Lawson of North Carolina (2009), Acie Law of Texas A&M (2007), Dee Brown of Illinois (2006), Raymond Felton of North Carolina (2005) and Jameer Nelson of St. Joseph’s (2004).
For more information on the 2019 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall on Twitter and Instagram.
2019 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award Watch List
Jared Harper, Auburn
Ky Bowman, Boston College
Tre Jones, Duke
Josh Perkins, Gonzaga
Devon Dotson, Kansas
Tremont Waters, LSU
Markus Howard, Marquette
Jon Elmore, Marshall
Cassius Winston, Michigan State
Cody Martin, Nevada
Ahmad Carver, Old Dominion
Payton Pritchard, Oregon
Carsen Edwards, Purdue
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s
Alex Robinson, TCU
Jordan Bone, Tennessee
Jaylen Hands, UCLA
Jahvon Quinerly, Villanova
Ty Jerome, Virginia
Justin Robinson, Virginia Tech
Candidates can play their way onto and off of the list at any point during the season
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