Maxey Named to USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List
ST. LOUIS – Freshman guard Tyrese Maxey, Kentucky’s men’s basketball’s leading scorer through the first seven games of the 2019-20 season, was named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy preseason watch list on Thursday. The Oscar Robertson Trophy is presented to the national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Maxey, who is already on the watch lists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy, the John R. Wooden Award and the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I Player of the Year award, is the only Wildcat featured on all four of the major national player of the year watch lists.
The Oscar Robertson Trophy will be presented at the Final Four in Atlanta. The winner will be also be honored at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on April 13.
Although Thursday’s list of 46 players consists of the initial contenders for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, all NCAA Division I players are eligible for postseason honors from the USBWA. Maxey is one of five freshmen on the initial list.
In mid-March, the USBWA will announce its 2019-20 All-America Team and, at that time, finalists will also be chosen for the player of the year. Once finalists are announced, the entire USBWA membership will vote for the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy.
Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a national Player of the year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation’s oldest player of the year award and the only one named after a former player.
Previous winners include Tim Duncan (Wake Forest, 1997), Michael Jordan (North Carolina, 1984), Larry Bird (Indiana State, 1979), Bill Walton (UCLA, 1972-74), Pete Maravich (LSU, 1969, ’70), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA 1967-68) and Jerry Lucas (Ohio State 1961, ’62). Anthony Davis became the first – and to this point only – Wildcat to win the award when he captured it in 2012.
Maxey, a preseason All-Southeastern Conference Second Team selection, has lived up to preseason expectations that tabbed him as one of the best freshmen in the country. The 6-foot-3 guard has scored in double figures in five of seven games, is shooting 46.5% from the field and has made a team-best 11 3-pointers.
The 6-foot-3 guard made an immediate impact on a national stage in the first game of the season. Against the then-No. 1 team in the country, Michigan State, Maxey came off the bench to score a game-high 26 points to defeat the Spartans in Madison Square Garden in New York. Maxey made 7 of 12 from the field and a trio of 3-pointers, including a dagger from four feet behind the line to seal the outcome. Maxey’s 26 points are the most ever by a Kentucky freshman in a debut.
The Garland, Texas, native also scored 21 points vs. Lamar with a season-best four 3-pointers.
Maxey began his freshman campaign as the No. 10 overall prospect by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. He was a Naismith High School Boys’ 2019 All-America Second Team selection. As a senior at South Garland High School, Maxey averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
He was tabbed Texas Mr. Basketball and was the Dallas-Fort Worth Area Player of the Year. Maxey was a two-time All-State selection and was a 2019 McDonald’s All American. His success stretched beyond high school basketball as he also won a gold medal as a member of the U18 USA Team.
In addition to the national watch list honors, Maxey made NBC Sports’ preseason All-America Third Team, was an Associated Press preseason All-America Honorable Mention selection and is on the Jerry West Award watch list for the Naismith Hall of Fame’s top shooting guard.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With more than 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
G Ty-Shon Alexander, Creighton, 6-4, 195, Jr. (Charlotte, N.C.)
G Cole Anthony, North Carolina, 6-3, 190, Fr. (New York, N.Y.)
G Desmond Bane, TCU, 6-6, 215, Sr. (Richmond, Ind.)
C Charles Bassey, WKU, 6-11, 230, So. (Lagos, Nigeria)
F Kerry Blackshear Jr., Florida, 6-10, 241, Gr. (Orlando, Fla.)
G Jared Butler, Baylor, 6-3, 190, So. (Reserve, La.)
G Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati, 6-3, 185, Gr. (Wilmington, Ohio)
G Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy, 6-1, 160, So. (Birmingham, Ala.)
F Mamadi Diakite, Virginia, 6-9, 224, Sr. (Conakry, Guinea)
G Devon Dotson, Kansas, 6-2, 185, So. (Charlotte, N.C.)
F Anthony Edwards, Georgia, 6-5, 225, Fr. (Atlanta, Ga.)
G Jordan Ford, Saint Mary’s, 6-1, 175, Sr. (Folsom, Calif.)
C Luka Garza, Iowa, 6-11, 260, Jr. (Washington, D.C.)
G Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Davidson, 6-5, 200, Sr. (Grindavik, Iceland)
F TJ Holyfield, Texas Tech, 6-8, 225, Sr. (Albuquerque, N.M.)
G Markus Howard, Marquette, 5-11, 180, Sr. (Chandler, Ariz.)
G Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA, 6-0, 170, Jr. (Bayamon, Puerto Rico)
G Tre Jones, Duke, 6-3, 185, So. (Apple Valley, Minn.)
F/C Nathan Knight, William & Mary, 6-10, 253, Sr. (Syracuse, N.Y.)
F Anthony Lamb, Vermont, 6-6, 227, Sr. (Rochester, N.Y.)
G Jermaine Marrow, Hampton, 6-0, 182, Sr. (Newport News, Va.)
G Tyrese Maxey, Kentucky, 6-3, 198, Fr. (Garland, Texas)
G Skylar Mays, LSU, 6-4, 205, Sr. (Baton Rouge, La.)
G Sam Merrill, Utah State, 6-5, 205, Sr. (Bountiful, Utah)
F John Mooney, Notre Dame, 6-9, 245, Sr. (Orlando, Fla.)
F Aaron Nesmith, Vanderbilt, 6-6, 213, So. (Charleston, S.C.)
F Zeke Nnaji, Arizona, 6-11, 240, Fr. (Hopkins, Minn.)
F Jordan Nwora, Louisville, 6-7, 225, Jr. (Buffalo, N.Y.)
F Reggie Perry, Mississippi State, 6-10, 250, So. (Thomasville, Ga.)
F Filip Petrusev, Gonzaga, 6-11, 235, So. (Belgrade, Serbia)
G Myles Powell, Seton Hall, 6-2, 195, Sr. (Trenton, N.J.)
G Payton Pritchard, Oregon, 6-2, 190, Sr. (West Linn, Ore.)
F Nick Rakocevic, USC, 6-11, 225, Sr. (Chicago, Ill.)
G Jordan Roland, Northeastern, 6-1, 171, Sr. (Syracuse, N.Y.)
F Marcus Santos-Silva, VCU, 6-7, 250, Jr. (Taunton, Mass.)
F Lamar Stevens, Penn State, 6-8, 225, Sr. (Philadelphia, Pa.)
F Tres Tinkle, Oregon State, 6-7, 225, Sr. (Missoula, Mont.)
F Obi Toppin, Dayton, 6-9, 220, So. (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
F Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State, 6-9, 270, Jr. (Westerville, Ohio)
G Cassius Winston, Michigan State, 6-1, 185, Sr. (Detroit, Mich.)
C James Wiseman, Memphis, 7-1, 240, Fr. (Nashville, Tenn.)
G McKinley Wright IV, Colorado, 6-0, 196, Jr. (North Robbinsdale, Minn.)
C Omer Yurtseven, Georgetown, 7-0, 264, Sr. (Istanbul, Turkey)
