BATON ROUGE — LSU sophomore forward Brandon Bass was named as one of the pre-season candidates for the Naismith Trophy presented by Cingular Wireless, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men’s and women’s player of the year. The Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, compiled the top 50 list. The board based its pre-season criteria on player performances from last season.
In January, the Board of Selectors will narrow its pre-season list to the Top 30 players in the nation. Those players and others who distinguish themselves throughout the season, will be eligible for the final ballot in March.
This year for the first time, as part of the sponsorship with Cingular, college basketball fans nationwide will have a voice in deciding who wins the Naismith Trophy through wireless text messaging.
Other SEC players on the list: Chuck Hayes, Kentucky; David Lee, Florida; Anthony Roberson, Florida; Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State; Matt Walsh, Florida; and, Kennedy Winston, Alabama.
Scrimmage
The Tigers scrimmaged on Saturday morning at practice in the auxiliary gym of the Maravich Center in preparation for Tuesday night’s exhibition opener with the EA Sports All-Stars.
Coach John Brady put the team through three 12-minute games, marking the first time the team had scrimmaged using officials since practice began on Oct. 16.
The teams were mixed and match throughout and four players scored in double figures during the play — Darrel Mitchell with 15, Glen Davis 13, Bass and Darnell Lazare 11.
The Tigers take Sunday off before practicing on Monday one more time before the first of two exhibition games (Tuesday and also Nov. 15).
About EA Sports
LSU’s opponent Tuesday, EA Sports, has already played one exhibition game this week to open their schedule, a 71-59 loss on Wednesday at Kansas State.
For EA Sports, Daniel Watts was the leading scorer and rebounder with 13 points and seven boards in 38 minutes. Watts was a former college player at the University of Nevada.
The EA Sports squad is scheduled to play at Providence Saturday evening and at Virginia Tech on Monday before playing the Tigers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Maravich Center. This will mark the sixth straight year for LSU to play a Maury Hanks-based team of former college players, although the team has had different sponsors over the years.
Tickets for the game are on sale at the LSU athletics ticket office and will be on sale on game night at the upper ticket windows of the Maravich Center beginning at 5:30 p.m.