Indiana University Athletics
Pair of IU Freshmen on Tisdale Watch List
11/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana men's basketball team had a pair of freshmen named to the watch list for the Wayman Tisdale award, which is handed out by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) to the top freshman in the country each season.
Blackmon Jr., a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., has started all five games for the Hoosiers this season and is averaging 20.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. He is also shooting 54.5 percent (18-of-28) from behind the 3-point line.
Johnson has also started all five games so far and is averaging 12.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and over three assists per game. The Richmond, Va., native has made 54.5 percent of his shots from the floor and leads the team with seven steals.
The player and freshman of the year awards, along with the Henry Iba Award for national coach of the year, will be announced in March and presented to the winners at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards gala at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on April 14, 2015.
The USBWA has chosen a national freshman of the year since the 1988-89 season when LSU's Chris Jackson was the recipient. Last season, Duke's Jabari Parker became the fourth winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award. Other notable previous winners of the national freshman of the year award include Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd and Chris Webber.
Wayman Tisdale Award Watch List (alphabetical)
Cliff Alexander, Kansas
James Blackmon Jr., Indiana
Daniel Hamilton, UConn
Justin Jackson, North Carolina
Robert Johnson, Indiana
Stanley Johnson, Arizona
Tyus Jones, Duke
Kaleb Joseph, Syracuse
Kevon Looney, UCLA
Trey Lyles, Kentucky
Chris McCullough, Syracuse
Jahlil Okafor, Duke
Chinanu Onuaku, Louisville
Kelly Oubre Jr., Kansas
D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
Reid Travis, Stanford
Myles Turner, Texas
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
Rashad Vaughn, UNLV
Isaiah Whitehead, Seton Hall
Justise Winslow, Duke
