Purdue sophomore Carsen Edwards has been selected as a finalist for the Jerry West Award given to the nation’s top shooting guard, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced today.
Edwards is joined on the list by junior Jerome Robinson (Boston College), senior Marcus Foster (Creighton), senior Grayson Allen (Duke) and senior Kendrick Nunn (Oakland). Fans are encouraged to visit HoopHallAwards.com to cast their votes March 9-23. Previous winners include Malik Monk (Kentucky, 2017), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma, 2016) and D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State, 2015).
It marks the second straight year that a Purdue sophomore has been named a finalist for a position award as Caleb Swanigan was selected as a finalist for last year’s Karl Malone Award given to the nation’s top power forward.
The winner of the 2018 Jerry West Award will be honored at ESPN’s College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, April 6, 2018. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award, the Karl Malone Power Forward Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award. Broadcast information will be released at a later date.
Monday, he was tabbed a second-team All-American by USA Today and a third-team honoree by The Sporting News. The Sporting News is 1-of-4 organizations used to calculate the consensus All-America teams.
Edwards, a 6-foot, 1-inch guard from Atascocita, Texas, leads the Boilermakers in scoring at 18.5 points per game while contributing 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He is shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from 3-point range and 81.0 percent from the free throw line.
He ranks fourth on the Purdue sophomore single-season points list with 628 points and ne
eds 12 points to become the seventh player in school history to have 1,000 points through his first two seasons at Purdue. He joins Swanigan (2017) as the only players in school history to have 600 points and 100 assists in the same season.
He is the Big Ten’s leading scorer since Feb. 1, averaging 22.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during the 10-game stretch. Edwards has scored in double-figures in 17 straight games, starting Jan. 9, vs. Michigan.
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reviously, Edwards was named a unanimous All-Big Ten selection by the Associated Press, a first-team All-Big Ten honoree (coaches and media), a two-time Big Ten player of the Week, the USBWA and NCAA.com National Player of the Week and 1-of-10 finalists for the Jerry West Award given to the nation’s top shooting guard. He was also named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team after averaging 21.7 points. 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in New York City.
He is also 1-of-15 finalists, and 1-of-6 underclassmen, to be named a Wooden Award finalist.
Edwards and the 28-6 Boilermakers will learn their NCAA Tournament selection next Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, on TBS, as part of the March Madness Selection Show. It will be the fourth straight appearance for the Boilermakers.
