Feb. 13, 2014

ATLANTA – Kentucky freshman forward Julius Randle has added Naismith Trophy midseason watch list honors to his ever-growing list of accolades it was announced on Thursday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Randle has already been tabbed to the Wooden Award and Oscar Robertson midseason watch lists and has won numerous awards throughout his impressive freshman campaign.

The Dallas, Texas, native is currently leading the Wildcats with 15.8 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per outing.

His freshman campaign already ranks among the all-time bests in UK allure. Randle has charted 237 rebounds on the season good for the seventh best mark for a first-year player in program history. He has 129 free throws and 379 points totals that place him ninth and 17th, respectively in the freshman record books.

The forward’s 12 double-double efforts is a mark good for the 15th most in a single season for any UK player in program history.

Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, founder of the game of basketball, the Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T is awarded annually to the women’s and men’s college basketball players of the year. First awarded in 1969 to UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Naismith Trophy was sculpted by Marty C. Dawe of Atlanta and has become the most prestigious national honors awarded each year to the top women’s and men’s college basketball players in the nation.

Each year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s board of selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, vote on player performance to ultimately select the winners.

Randle and the Wildcats return to the hardwood on Saturday, Feb. 15 for a 9:00 p.m. ET tip with No. 3/4. The game will air live on ESPN and will be a part of the ESPN College GameDay telecast.