ATLANTA – UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes has been chosen as one of 50 top college basketball players to the preseason watch list for the 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year, as announced Monday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Wilkes, a 6-foot-8 guard from Indianapolis, registered 13.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2017-18. He played in all 33 games and made 32 starts, ranking second on the team in scoring and rebounding. In addition, he shot 44.1 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from three-point range.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club will reduce the 50-person list to 30 individuals on a midseason list to be revealed on Feb. 13, 2019. The midseason list will be pared down to 10 national semifinalists in March 2019 before four finalists are announced on March 19. This year's Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded on April 7, 2019, at the Naismith Awards Brunch during the Final Four in Minneapolis.
Wilkes earned Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors last year, having registered a season-high 22 points in a victory at USC (March 3). In all, Wilkes finished the year with six games in which he scored at least 20 points.
Last month, Wilkes was named as one of 20 student-athletes to the national preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.
No. 21/20 UCLA will open its regular-season schedule against Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The Bruins' season opener will begin at 6 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men's Preseason Watch List
| Name | Year | Position | School |
| Kamar Baldwin | Jr. | G | Butler |
| R.J. Barrett | Fr. | F | Duke |
| Tyus Battle | Jr. | G | Syracuse |
| Bennie Boatwright | Sr. | F | USC |
| Bol Bol | Fr. | C | Oregon |
| Phil Booth | Sr. | G | Villanova |
| Ky Bowman | Jr. | G | Boston College |
| Barry Brown | Sr. | G | Kansas State |
| Jordan Caroline | Sr. | G/F | Nevada |
| Clayton Custer | Sr. | G | Loyola of Chicago |
| Mike Daum | Sr. | F | South Dakota State |
| Carsen Edwards | Jr. | G | Purdue |
| Jon Elmore | Sr. | G | Marshall |
| Daniel Gafford | So. | F | Arkansas |
| Darius Garland | Fr. | G | Vanderbilt |
| Jessie Govan | Sr. | C | Georgetown |
| Kellan Grady | So. | G | Davidson |
| Quentin Grimes | Fr. | G | Kansas |
| Kyle Guy | Jr. | G | Virginia |
| Rui Hachimura | Jr. | F | Gonzaga |
| Ethan Happ | Sr. | F | Wisconsin |
| Markus Howard | Jr. | G | Marquette |
| De'Andre Hunter | So. | G | Virginia |
| Keldon Johnson | Fr. | G | Kentucky |
| Sagaba Konate | Jr. | F | West Virginia |
| Romeo Langford | Fr. | G | Indiana |
| Dedric Lawson | Jr. | F | Kansas |
| Nassir Little | Fr. | F | North Carolina |
| Caleb Martin | Sr. | F | Nevada |
| Charles Matthews | Sr. | G | Michigan |
| Luke Maye | Sr. | F | North Carolina |
| Juwan Morgan | Sr. | F | Indiana |
| Jordan Murphy | Sr. | F | Minnesota |
| James Palmer Jr. | Sr. | G | Nebraska |
| Eric Paschall | Sr. | F | Villanova |
| Shamorie Ponds | Jr. | G | St. John's |
| Cam Reddish | Fr. | F | Duke |
| Justin Robinson | Sr. | G | Virginia Tech |
| Admiral Schofield | Sr. | G | Tennessee |
| Chris Silva | Sr. | F | South Carolina |
| Killian Tillie | Jr. | F | Gonzaga |
| Reid Travis | Sr. | F | Kentucky |
| Dean Wade | Sr. | F | Kansas State |
| P.J. Washington | So. | F | Kentucky |
| Tremont Waters | So. | G | LSU |
| Lindell Wigginton | So. | G | Iowa State |
| Kris Wilkes | So. | G | UCLA |
| Grant Williams | Jr. | F | Tennessee |
| Zion Williamson | Fr. | F | Duke |
| Cassius Winston | Jr. | G | Michigan State |