Clark, Jaquez Jr. Among National Player of the Year Candidates
January 19, 2023 | Men's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS – UCLA junior Jaylen Clark and senior Jaime Jaquez Jr. have been listed to the 50-player midseason watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, which is annually awarded to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Jaquez Jr. continues to lead UCLA's team in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg), through the Bruins' first 18 games. He has shot 51.0 percent from the field and is one of five Pac-12 Conference players to rank among the top 10 leaders in the league's scoring and rebounding categories. Jaquez Jr. enters this Thursday's matchup at Arizona State ranking No. 4 in the Pac-12 in scoring, No. 4 in steals per game (1.7 spg) and No. 8 in rebounding.
Clark entered the week as the Bruins' second-leading scorer (14.2 ppg) and rebounder (6.8 rpg), through 17 games played. He ranked No. 6 in the nation, through Wednesday night's games, in steals per game (2.65 spg) and led all Pac-12 players in steals (45). Clark has shot 51.7 percent from the field and a career-best 35.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Jaquez Jr. and Clark have joined Arizona's Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis as Pac-12 student-athletes on the 50-man midseason watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy. The USBWA's national award will be presented at the conclusion of the college basketball season.
UCLA's program has seen six former players win the Oscar Robertson Trophy a total of nine times. Last season, Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe was honored with the Oscar Robertson Trophy.
The USBWA's list of 50 top players incorporates student-athletes from 18 different conferences, including teammates from six schools (including the Bruins' duo of Clark and Jaquez Jr.).
Since the 1958-59 college basketball season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of Oscar Robertson, a Hall of Fame player at the University of Cincinnati and a two-time recipient of the USBWA's Player of the Year award. This is the nation's oldest such award and the only one named after a former player.
2022-23 Oscar Robertson Trophy, midseason watch list
Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)
Tyree Appleby (Wake Forest)
Armando Bacot (North Carolina)
Oumar Ballo (Arizona)
Souley Boum, (Xavier)
Jordan Brown (Louisiana)
Kobe Brown, (Missouri)
Marcus Carr (Texas)
Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
Josh Cohen (St. Francis, Pa.)
Ricky Council IV (Arkansas)
Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy)
Kendric Davis (Memphis)
Gradey Dick (Kansas)
Hunter Dickinson (Michigan)
Jordan Dingle (Penn)
Zach Edey, (Purdue)
Kyle Filipowski (Duke)
Adam Flagler (Baylor)
Keyonte George (Baylor)
DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
Bryce Hopkins (Providence)
Jaelen House (New Mexico)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)
Taevion Kinsey (Marshall)
Caleb Love (North Carolina)
Mike Miles Jr. (TCU)
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
Kris Murray (Iowa)
Jameer Nelson Jr. (Delaware)
Markquis Nowell (Kansas State)
Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
Marcus Sasser (Houston)
Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
Terquavion Smith (N.C. State)
Adama Sonogo (Connecticut)
Joel Soriano (St. John's)
Jake Stephens (Chattanooga)
Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
Hunter Tyson (Clemson)
Jordan Walker (UAB)
KJ Williams (LSU)
Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
Isaiah Wong (Miami)
