BOSTON – UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes has been selected as one of 40 top college basketball players to the annual Lute Olson Award Watch List, as announced this week by CollegeInsider.com.
Wilkes, a 6-foot-8 guard from Indianapolis, Ind., has averaged a team-leading 17.6 points in the Bruins' seven games this season. He has shot 46.5 percent from the field, averaging 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
Last season, Wilkes averaged 13.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in all 33 games as a freshman.
The Lute Olson Award is annually presented to the nation's top Division I player. Incoming freshmen and transfers are not eligible for the preseason watch list.
Wilkes has also been named to preseason watch lists for the John Wooden Award and the Citizen Naismith Trophy, a pair of annual Player of the Year awards. In addition, he has been chosen as one of the nation's top 20 small forwards for this season's Julius Erving Award.
UCLA (5-2) returns to action against Loyola Marymount (7-0) on Sunday night. Game time is 7 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
Lute Olson Award – Watch List (2018-19)
| Name | Year | Height | School |
| Kamar Baldwin | Jr. | 6-1 | Butler |
| Tyus Battle | Jr. | 6-6 | Syracuse |
| Bennie Boatwright | Sr. | 6-10 | USC |
| Barry Brown | Sr. | 6-3 | Kansas State |
| Ky Bowman | Jr. | 6-1 | Boston College |
| Yoeli Childs | Jr. | 6-8 | BYU |
| Chris Clemons | Sr. | 5-9 | Campbell |
| Clayton Custer | Sr. | 6-1 | Loyola-Chicago |
| Mike Daum | Sr. | 6-9 | South Dakota State |
| Carsen Edwards | Jr. | 6-1 | Purdue |
| Jon Elmore | Sr. | 6-3 | Marshall |
| Daniel Gafford | So. | 6-11 | Arkansas |
| Kellan Grady | So. | 6-5 | Davidson |
| Kyle Guy | Jr. | 6-2 | Virginia |
| Rui Hachimura | Jr. | 6-8 | Gonzaga |
| Ethan Happ | Sr. | 6-10 | Wisconsin |
| Markus Howard | Jr. | 5-11 | Marquette |
| DeAndre Hunter | So. | 6-7 | Virginia |
| Sagaba Konate | Jr. | 6-8 | West Virginia |
| Caleb Martin | Sr. | 6-7 | Nevada |
| C.J. Massinburg | Sr. | 6-3 | Buffalo |
| Charles Matthews | Sr. | 6-6 | Michigan |
| Luke Maye | Sr. | 6-8 | North Carolina |
| Ja Morant | So. | 6-3 | Murray State |
| Juwan Morgan | Sr. | 6-8 | Indiana |
| Jordan Murphy | Sr. | 6-6 | Minnesota |
| Josh Perkins | Sr. | 6-3 | Gonzaga |
| Shamori Ponds | Jr. | 6-1 | St. John's |
| Grant Riller | Jr. | 6-3 | Charleston |
| Justin Robinson | Sr. | 6-2 | Virginia Tech |
| D'Marcus Simonds | Jr. | 6-3 | Georgia State |
| Dean Wade | Sr. | 6-2 | Kansas State |
| Nick Ward | Jr. | 6-8 | Michigan State |
| P.J. Washington | So. | 6-8 | Kentucky |
| Tremont Waters | So. | 5-11 | LSU |
| Quinndary Weatherspoon | Sr. | 6-4 | Mississippi State |
| Lindell Wigginton | So. | 6-2 | Iowa State |
| Kris Wilkes | So. | 6-8 | UCLA |
| Grant Williams | Jr. | 6-7 | Tennessee |
| Justin Wright-Foreman | Sr. | 6-1 | Hofstra |