BATON ROUGE — The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today the 50 men’s players to watch during the season-long competition for the 2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year honor.
Included in that list is LSU senior guard Skylar Mays, who will play his 100th career game on Friday when the Tigers open the 2019-20 season against Bowling Green at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Season tickets, mini-plans and single game tickets for non-conference games remain on sale at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and at LSUtix.net.
A list of the midseason 30 member watch team will be released in early February, followed by the 10 national semifinalists and four finalists on March 5, 2020, and March 17, 2020, respectively. The 2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded in the hometown of the Atlanta Tipoff Club during the Final Four at the Naismith Awards Brunch on April 5, 2020.
“The beginning of the season is filled with excitement, optimism and anticipation as each team and every player is undefeated, making the race for the Citizen Naismith Trophy wide open. While these 50 candidates are ones to keep an eye on, there will be plenty of others who will enter the competition as the season heats up,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “This year will be especially exciting for this award as we will honor the nation’s top player in our home city when Atlanta hosts the 2020 Final Four.”
Mays started all 35 games a season ago and is the top returning scorer for the defending Southeastern Conference champions, averaging 13.4 points a game. He played a league high 1,159 minutes, averaging 33.1 a game. He also averaged 3.3 rebounds and over two assists a contest.
Overall, the SEC tops the list with nine players represented, while the Big Ten and ACC are close runners-up with eight and seven candidates on the watch list, respectively. Seven schools lead the watch list with two players apiece, including Duke, which has won more Citizen Naismith Trophies (8) than any other school with the addition of last year’s winner, Zion Williamson. Additional schools with two players represented include Davidson, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and Michigan State
2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men’s Preseason Watch List
NAME/CLASS/POSITION/SCHOOL/CONFERENCE
Bryce Aiken/Sr./G/Harvard/IVY
Cole Anthony/Fr./G/North Carolina/ACC
Udoka Azubuike/Sr./C/Kansas/Big 12
Kamar Baldwin/Sr./G/Butler/BIG EAST
Charles Bassey/So./C/Western Kentucky/C-USA
Kerry Blackshear/Sr./F/Florida/SEC
Vernon Carey, Jr./Fr./C/Duke/ACC
Yoeli Childs/Sr./F/BYU/WCC
Tristan Clark/Jr./F/Baylor/Big 12
Anthony Cowan Jr./Sr./G/Maryland/Big Ten
Jarron Cumberland/Sr./G/Cincinnati/AAC
Mamadi Diakite/Sr./F/Virginia/ACC
Alpha Diallo/Sr./G/Providence/BIG EAST
Ayo Dosunmu/So./G/Illinois/Big Ten
Devon Dotson/So./G/Kansas/Big 12
Anthony Edwards/Fr./G/Georgia/SEC
Jordan Ford/Sr./G/St. Mary’s/WCC
Kellan Grady/Jr./G/Davidson/A-10
Jon Axel Gudmundsson/Sr./G/Davidson/A-10
Ashton Hagans/So./G/Kentucky/SEC
Tyrese Haliburton/So./G/Iowa State/Big 12
Markus Howard/Sr./G/Marquette/BIG EAST
Markell Johnson/Sr./G/NC State/ACC
Tre Jones/So./G/Duke/ACC
Anthony Lamb/Sr./F/Vermont/America East
Kira Lewis Jr./So./G/Alabama/SEC
Nico Mannion/Fr./G/Arizona Pac-12
Naji Marshall/Jr./F/Xavier/BIG EAST
Tyrese Maxey/Fr./G/Kentucky/SEC
Skylar Mays/Sr./G/LSU/SEC
Sam Merrill/Sr./G/Utah State/Mountain West
John Mooney/Sr./F/Notre Dame/ACC
Andrew Nembhard/So./G/Florida/SEC
Jordan Nwora/Jr./F/Louisville/ACC
Reggie Perry/So./F/Mississippi State/SEC
Myles Powell/Sr./G/Seton Hall/BIG EAST
Payton Pritchard/Sr./G/Oregon/Pac-12
Zavier Simpson/Sr./G/Michigan/Big Ten
Jalen Smith/So./F/Maryland/Big Ten
Lamar Stevens/Sr./F/Penn State/Big Ten
Isaiah Stewart/Fr./F/Washington/Pac-12
Killian Tillie/Sr./F/Gonzaga/WCC
Xavier Tillman/Jr./F/Michigan State/Big Ten
Tres Tinkle/Sr./F/Oregon State/Pac-12
Obi Toppin/So./F/Dayton/A-10
Breein Tyree/Sr./G/Ole Miss/SEC
Kaleb Wesson/Jr./F/Ohio State/Big Ten
Cassius Winston/Sr./G/Michigan State/Big Ten
James Wiseman/Fr./C/Memphis/AAC
McKinley Wright IV/Jr./G/Colorado/Pac-12
ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB
Founded during the 1956-57 season, the Atlanta Tipoff Club is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club administers the Naismith Awards, the most prestigious national honors in all of college and high school basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, the family of Naismith Awards annually recognizes the most outstanding men’s and women’s college and high school basketball players and coaches. Other Naismith Awards are presented to the men’s and women’s college basketball defensive players of the year, as well as lifetime achievement awards to basketball officials and outstanding contributors to the game. UCLA’s Lew Alcindor received the first Citizen Naismith Trophy in 1969, while the late Anne Donovan (Old Dominion) was the inaugural women’s recipient in 1983. Corporate partners of the Naismith Awards include Citizen Watch Company, Jersey Mike’s and Werner Ladder.