Sahvir Wheeler Named Finalist For Bob Cousy Award
Sahvir Wheeler has made the cut once again. He's now down to the final five for the Bob Cousy Award. James Akinjo (Baylor), Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga), Tyger Campbell (UCLA) and Collin Gillsepie (Villanova) make up the other four.
A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in November, which was then cut down to 10 candidates in late January, and now in which only five remain.
Sahvir Wheeler currently leads the Southeastern Conference in assists per game and ranks third nationally, at 7.0 assists per game. He's also averaging 9.8 points per game for the Wildcats. If he was to win the award, he would join former Wildcat Tyler Ulis (2016) as the only other point guard from Kentucky to win the award
"The five point guards who have been selected as finalists for this prestigious award have proven themselves as the most premier floor generals in the country," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. "They have continually demonstrated the playmaking and leadership skills that Bob Cousy was famous for, which will help them and their teams as they finish out the season in search of a national title."
The winner of the 2022 Bob Cousy Award will be announced on ESPN, along with the other nine members of the Men's and Women's Naismith Starting Five. Additional information about the award presentation, including a date and time, will be released by the Hall of Fame in the coming weeks.
In a press release from UK on Wheeler being named a finalist for the award, the school said:
This is the second-consecutive season Wheeler is leading the Southeastern Conference in assists after he paced the conference in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio at Georgia last season. His 193 assists in 2020-21 broke Georgia's previous single-season assists record by 24 dimes despite a shortened season.
Wheeler's current rate of 7.00 assists per game is a shade behind of Ulis' 7.03 average when he set the UK single-season assists record in 2015-16 with 246 dimes. Wheeler entered the season ranked sixth among all returners nationally in career assists per game. With 175 assists this season, Wheeler ranks 12th in UK single-season history in the category. He is just seven assists shy of breaking into the top 10.
With Wheeler directing the offense, UK has scored 90 or more points in seven games this season. That's the most since the 2016-17 season.
If you want to see Sahvir win this award, your vote can help him do so. The Naismith Starting Five Fan Voting will go live on Friday, March 4th on hoophallawards.com. Vote there to give him the best chance of winning. The winner of the 2022 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award will be determined by a 'combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame's selection committee.'