One day away from their season opener in paradise against No. 11 Indiana, the Kansas men’s basketball team learned that three players, Frank Mason III, Devonte’ Graham and Josh Jackson, have been named to the Naismith Award Watch List.
KU tied Duke, Wisconsin, Kentucky for the most representatives on the 50-player list.
Mason and Graham land on the list having earned all-Big 12 honors a season ago. Mason was a second-team all-conference pick for the second year in a row and Graham earned honorable mention status.
Graham and Mason also earned all-Big 12 defensive honors during the 2015-16 season.
Jackson, the 6-foot-8 freshman from Detroit by way of Prolific Prep in Napa, California, will join the returning starters in the Kansas backcourt, giving the Jayhawks what many analysts are calling one of the top backcourts in the country entering the 2016-17 season.
Jackson was voted the 2016-17 Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, while Graham and Mason were preseason all-Big 12 picks.
The following list will be narrowed to 30 candidates for the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year will be released in early February.
Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List
Bam Adebayo, Kentucky
Grayson Allen, Duke
Jarrett Allen, Texas
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Lonzo Ball, UCLA
V.J. Beachem, Notre Dame
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
James Blackmon Jr., Indiana
Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson
Trevon Bluiett, Xavier
Chris Boucher, Oregon
Miles Bridges, Michigan State
Dillon Brooks, Oregon
Thomas Bryant, Indiana
Troy Caupain, Cincinnati
Tyler Davis, Texas A&M
Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State
De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Jack Gibbs, Davidson
Harry Giles, Duke
Devonte’ Graham, Kansas
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
Josh Hart, Villanova
Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin
Malcolm Hill, Illinois
Josh Jackson, Kansas
Justin Jackson, North Carolina
Kris Jenkins, Villanova
Peter Jok, Iowa
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
Bronson Koenig, Wisconsin
Dedric Lawson, Memphis
Tyler Lydon, Syracuse
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona
Frank Mason III, Kansas
E.C. Matthews, Rhode Island
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Monte Morris, Iowa State
Jonathan Motley, Baylor
Austin Nichols, Virginia
London Perrantes, Virginia
Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Ivan Rabb, California
Dennis Smith Jr., NC State
Edmond Sumner, Xavier
Caleb Swanigan, Purdue
Jayson Tatum, Duke
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga