Smith Selected as Senior CLASS Award Candidate
February 08, 2021 | Men's Basketball
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. โ UCLA senior Chris Smith has been selected as one of 30 men's basketball candidates for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award.
ย
Student-athletes eligible for this award must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
ย
Smith, a 6-foot-9 senior from Chicago, had averaged 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in eight games for the Bruins before he suffered a season-ending knee injury (torn ACL, left knee) in a game against Utah on Dec. 31, 2020. Smith had scored in double figures in five of eight games.
ย
Last season, Smith was named the Pac-12 Conference's Most Improved Player. That marked the first time that any UCLA men's basketball player had earned that award (since the award's inception in 2011-12). As a junior last season, he led the Bruins in scoring (13.1 ppg) and was second on the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg).
ย
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ยฎ, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.ย
ย
Men's and women's basketball candidates will be narrowed to two fields of 10 finalists in late February. Those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will then select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the pillars of community, classroom, character and competition.
ย
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men's Final Fourยฎ and NCAA Women's Final Fourยฎ this spring.
ย
For more information on this season's award candidates, please visit www.seniorclassaward.com.ย
