KU’s Devonté Graham on Bob Cousy Award watch list; Mason won it a year ago

Kansas senior Devonté Graham has been selected as one of 20 watch list candidates for the 2018 Bob Cousy Award, which annually is presented to the country’s top point guard.

KU’s Frank Mason won the award a year ago.

West Virginia’s Jevon Carter, Baylor’s Manu Lecomte and Oklahoma’s Trae Young are other Big 12 players included on the watch list, released by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday. Wichita State’s Landry Shamet also made the list.

Others on the list: Collin Sexton, Alabama; Jalen Adams, Connecticut; Trevon Duval, Duke; Jordan Bohannon, Iowa; Quentin Snider, Louisville; Nate Mason, Minnesota; Joel Berry, North Carolina; Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern; Matt Farrell, Notre Dame; Kyron Cartwright, Providence; Shake Milton, SMU; Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure; Jordan McLaughlin, USC; Jalen Brunson, Villanova and Bryant Crawford, Wake Forest.

Graham last week was chosen the Big 12’s preseason player of the year.

“It’s nice for the coaches to vote and stuff like that, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really mean much. I still have to go out and play and improve,” Graham said last week after receiving the Big 12 honor as voted by the league’s coaches.

At Thursday’s KU Basketball Media Day, coach Bill Self said, “I think last year he (Graham) deferred because it was best for our team to put the ball in Frank’s hands more. But he won’t defer to anybody this year. This is his squad. This is his team, more so than anybody else — Svi (Mykhailiuk, senior) and him. Svi has been terrific so far, but Devonté to me from a vocal standpoint and by example, I mean, he’s going to have a lot of fun this year, and if he has a lot of fun, then obviously he’ll be a great leader for us because he’s got personality like very few that we’ve ever had here.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 3:44 PM with the headline "KU’s Devonté Graham on Bob Cousy Award watch list; Mason won it a year ago."