St. Mary’s has announced that senior guard Mickey McConnell has been named one of the 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. The award goes to the best point guard in the country and is given out by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. McConnell is third in the WCC in points (16.3), first in assists (6.3), second in free throw percentage (.893), third in three-point field goal percentage (.481) and sixth in overall field goal percentage (.514). His 6.3 assists per game is also good for 13th in the country.
The award is decided on by a selection committee of up to 30 members including Hall of Famers, head coaches from each NCAA division, sports information directors and the media. The selection committee will consider leadership, team work, success and fundamentals in deciding the winner.
BYU guard Jimmer Fredette is one of the nominees and it’s safe to say he’s the favorite with a month of basketball left, even though he’s a scoring point guard instead of a passing point guard. The committee will narrow down this group of ten to five on March 10. Those players will be submitted to the committee (which includes Hall of Fame point guard Bob Cousy) and the winner will be announced April 4 as part of Final Four weekend.
The other finalists for the award are:
Norris Cole – Cleveland State
Corey Fisher – Villanova
Jimmer Fredette – BYU
DJ Gay – San Diego State
Brandon Knight – Kentucky
Demetri McCamey – Illinois
Mickey McConnell – St. Mary’s
Nolan Smith – Duke
Isaiah Thomas – Washington
Kemba Walker – Connecticut