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Hamidou Diallo Named to Jerry West Award Preseason Watch List

Photo by Keyli Chisesi (Go Big Blue Country)

 

The return of Hamidou Diallo to Kentucky was major news for the Wildcats chances in 2017-2018 and now the freshman is receiving national attention. Today, Diallo was named a candidate for the Jerry West Award, which is given to the nation’s best shooting guard.

 

Diallo committed to Kentucky in January and enrolled shortly after. Despite never playing a collegiate game, he entered his name in the 2017 NBA Draft. A wide range of mock drafts predicted him anywhere from mid first round to mid second round. Diallo’s decision to return came down within minutes of the deadline.

 

Entering the season, Diallo has a leg up on other freshmen. The redshirt freshman spent the second half of the season practicing with the team and learning Calipari’s system. Diallo also played for Calipari as a member of the FIBA U19 national team in Cairo, Egypt.

 

The 6-5 freshman will look to be the second consecutive Wildcat to win the Jerry West Award, as Malik Monk took home the honor in 2016. Monk averaged 19.8 points per game on his way to winning SEC Freshman of the Year. He was announced to the preseason watch list for the Jerry West Award and became UK’s first recipient of the honor.

 

This will be the fourth season the award is handed out. The honor is presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which announced the list of twenty candidates on Tuesday.

 

Twenty candidates are announced for the preseason list, which will be trimmed to ten in mid-February. The award will be presented on April 6th at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show in Los Angeles. Players outside the list will still be eligible for the award and five finalists will be announced before the ceremony.

 

The award is named after Jerry West, who attended West Virginia University. During his time at WVU, West averaged 24.8 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. He led the Mountaineers to a runner-up finish in 1959. West spent 14 seasons in the NBA, all with the Lakers. He won an NBA championship in 1972 and Finals MVP in 1969, despite his team losing in the finals.

 

This will be the fourth season the Jerry West Award has been presented. In addition to Monk, past winners are Buddy Hield (Oklahoma 2016), and D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State 2015).

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