From K-State Athletics
Seniors Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade were among 50 players selected to the watch list for the Citizen Naismith Trophy Player of the Year, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club today (November 5).
The preseason watch list will be trimmed to 30 on February 13, 2019 with the release of the midseason 30 team followed by 10 national semifinalists on March 4, 2019 and four finalists on March 19, 2019. The 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded at the Naismith Awards Brunch on April 7, 2019 at the Final Four.
K-State was among 10 schools nationally to have at least two players on the 50-man watch list, joining Duke (3), Gonzaga (2), Indiana (2), Kansas (2), Kentucky (3), Nevada (2), North Carolina (2), Tennessee (2) and Virginia (2). In addition, Brown and Wade were among six Big 12 players selected to the list, including Kansas’ Quentin Grimes and Dedric Lawson, Iowa State’s Lindell Wigginton and West Virginia’s Sagaba Konate.
The Naismith Awards, which are administered by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball. The Naismith Awards recognize the top men’s and women’s college and high school basketball players and coaches as well as the men’s and women’s college defensive players of the year.
A 6-foot-10, 228-pound forward from St. John, Kansas, Wade is coming off a stellar junior season in 2017-18, in which, he became just the 15th player in the Big 12 era to average at least 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in a single season, joining the likes of Iowa State’s Curtis Stinson, Oklahoma State’s Tony Allen, Texas’ P.J. Tucker and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart. He was one of only three Big 12 players to accomplish the feat since 2012-13, joining Smart (2012-13 and 2013-14) and Kansas’ Josh Jackson (2016-17).
A 6-foot-3, 195-pound three-year lettermen from St. Petersburg, Florida, Brown enjoyed a career-best season as a junior in 2017-18, averaging 15.9 points on 44.8 percent shooting (203-of-453), including 31.8 percent (42-of-132) from 3-point range, to go with 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.7 minutes per game. The team leader in double-digit scoring games (29), 20-point games (11), assists (120) and steals (67), he became the first Wildcat to post 500 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists and 50 steals in a single season.
Brown and Wade’s inclusion on the list adds to an already long list of preseason accolades, as each were selected to their respective positional player of the year lists (Brown for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year and Wade for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year). Wade became just the second Wildcat to ever be selected as the coaches’ Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, while both were named to Preseason All-Big 12 Team.
