Kentucky floor general De’Aaron Fox is among 10 finalists for the 2017 Bob Cousy award, which annually honors the nation’s top point guard, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Monday.
Fox is one of four freshmen to make the list of 10 finalists, joining NC State’s Dennis Smith, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball and Washington’s Markelle Fultz.
Faced with the unenviable task of replacing the 2016 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award winner, Tyler Ulis, Fox has filled his shoes admirably and made his own mark as one of the nation’s fastest and craftiest players. Fox is currently averaging 15.9 points, 5.7 assists and 1.6 steals. His 5.7 assists per game ranks 23rd in the country, fourth among all freshmen and first in the SEC, while his 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio is third in the conference. His 120 assists are slight behind where Ulis (124) sat through the first 21 games last season when he went on to break the school’s single-season assists record.
Fox already has a team-leading four double-doubles by way of points and assists, which includes his historic triple-double against Arizona State – the second triple-double in school history and first since Chris Mills did it Dec. 27, 1988. The Houston native has 10 games of six assists or more.
The Houston native is also among the players listed for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Oscar Robertson Trophy and Wayman Tisdale Award for the nation’s player and freshman of the year, respectively.
The Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award is named after Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy. The award is in its 14th year of recognizing the top point guard among Division I players.
A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in October and the same committee trimmed the list to the midseason list of 10 finalists. The winner will be announced at the ESPN’s College Basketball Awards show on April 7.
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