KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee men’s basketball standout Chaz Lanier is a designee for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Midseason Top 10 Watch List, as announced Tuesday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The annual Jerry West Award, named after the late Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player, celebrates its 11th year by highlighting the top shooting guards in Division I men’s college basketball.
A fifth-year guard out of Nashville, Tenn., Lanier is one three SEC players who made the cut. The others are Texas’ Tre Johnson and Florida’s Alijah Martin.
With Zakai Zeiglernamed Monday to the Bob Cousy Award Midseason Top 10 Watch List, Tennessee us one of just three schools with players among both the point guard and shooting guard selections. The others are Florida and Iowa State.
Lanier is averaging a team-high 17.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.1 steals per game for fourth-ranked Tennessee (18-4, 5-4 SEC). The 6-foot-5, 207-pounder ranks top-five nationally in total made 3-pointers (79) and 3-point makes per game (3.59), pacing the SEC in both areas, plus No. 32 in Division I and third in the SEC in 3-point percentage (42.2).
In addition to being a John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List choice and a USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List pick, Lanier has collected Midseason All-America honors from FOX Sports (second team), The Athletic (second team) and The Sporting News (third team). The SEC’s fifth-leading scorer is also a two-time USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week.
Fan Voting for the West Award will begin Feb. 7 on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
In March, the top 10 will be narrowed to just five finalists. Then, in late March, those five will be presented to the West’s family and Hall of Fame’s selection committee, at which time winners will be selected. The Selection Committee for the Bob Cousy Awards is composed of top men’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.
The winner of the 2025 Jerry West Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the four other members of the Men’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard), Julius Erving Award (Small Forward), Karl Malone Award (Power Forward) and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center), in addition to the Women’s Starting Five.
In 2023-24, for the first time, a Tennessee player earned one of the Starting Five plaudits, as Dalton Knecht garnered the Julius Erving Award.
For more information on the 2025 Jerry West Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com, as well as follow @hoophallu and #WestAward on X/Twitter and Instagram.
Lanier and the Volunteers continue play Wednesday at 7 p.m. against No. 15/16 Missouri, live on SEC Network from Food City Center.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
Jerry West Award Midseason Top 10 Watch List
R.J. Davis, North Carolina
V.J. Edgecombe, Baylor
P.J. Haggerty, Memphis
Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois
Tre Johnson, Texas
Curtis Jones, Iowa State
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Caleb Love, Arizona
Alijah Martin, Florida
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest
