COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M senior Jalen Jones was honored Thursday as one of just 35 players nationally with a spot on the midseason watch list for the prestigious Naismith Award, which is presented annually to the men's college basketball player who achieves great success on the court.
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The Dallas native leads the Aggies and ranks eighth in the SEC with a 16.3 point-per-game average that has seen him hit the 20-point mark in nine of 20 games played. For the season, he is shooting 43.4 percent from the field (109-of-215), 36.8 percent from 3- point range (21-of-57) and 75.4 percent from the free throw line (86-of-114). Additionally, Jones paces the team in rebounding with 7.2 boards per game while compiling 14 steals, 14 assists and nine blocked shots.
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During SEC play, Jones has been particularly impressive by scoring 20 or more points in six of 11 league games while ranking seventh in the conference in scoring at 17.5 points per game and ninth in rebounding (7.2 boards per game).
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Jones has twice been named SEC Player of the Week this season in addition to being recognized as the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week on Jan. 12. He was selected to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List Jan. 25 as well as being named a finalist for the Jerry West Award on Feb. 2
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The midseason list will be trimmed to 10 semifinalists on March 2 before four finalists are named March 20 and a winner is announced April 3.
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The Naismith Awards were founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to recognize accomplished athletes, coaches, officials and contributors to high school and college basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball, the first Naismith trophy was awarded in 1969 to UCLA's Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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The Dallas native leads the Aggies and ranks eighth in the SEC with a 16.3 point-per-game average that has seen him hit the 20-point mark in nine of 20 games played. For the season, he is shooting 43.4 percent from the field (109-of-215), 36.8 percent from 3- point range (21-of-57) and 75.4 percent from the free throw line (86-of-114). Additionally, Jones paces the team in rebounding with 7.2 boards per game while compiling 14 steals, 14 assists and nine blocked shots.
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During SEC play, Jones has been particularly impressive by scoring 20 or more points in six of 11 league games while ranking seventh in the conference in scoring at 17.5 points per game and ninth in rebounding (7.2 boards per game).
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Jones has twice been named SEC Player of the Week this season in addition to being recognized as the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week on Jan. 12. He was selected to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List Jan. 25 as well as being named a finalist for the Jerry West Award on Feb. 2
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The midseason list will be trimmed to 10 semifinalists on March 2 before four finalists are named March 20 and a winner is announced April 3.
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The Naismith Awards were founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to recognize accomplished athletes, coaches, officials and contributors to high school and college basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball, the first Naismith trophy was awarded in 1969 to UCLA's Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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