WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue junior guard Carsen Edwards has been named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award given to the nation's top shooting guard, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced today.
Edwards was joined on the list by Duke's R.J. Barrett, Hofstra's Justin Wright-Foreman, Virginia's Kyle Guy and Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver.
As last year's winner of the West Award, Edwards is trying to become the first repeat winner of one of the positional awards handed out by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
One of America's most-explosive players, Edwards ranks 11th in the country in scoring (23.5 PPG), but is second among high-major players behind Marquette's Markus Howard. The junior from Atascocita, Texas, is on pace to become just the fourth player since 1992-93 to score 800 points, make 125 3-pointers, dish out 100 assists and grab 50 steals, joining Davidson's Stephen Curry (twice), Duke's Jay Williams and Chicago State's David Holston.
He is on pace to become just the second Big Ten player since 1992-92 to average 23.0 points and 3.0 assists in a season (Michigan State's Shawn Respert in 1995).
Edwards recently moved into 10th place on the Purdue career scoring list (1,727) and his 1,727 points are the most for a Purdue player through his junior season.
In the win over Ohio State, Edwards tied a single-season school record with his 100th 3-pointer of the season and now needs just four triples to Dakota Mathias' career mark of 250.
In just 29 games this year, Edwards has scored 681 points, already making him one of five players in school history with multiple 650-point seasons. His 681 points rank 11th on the single-season list.
Edwards is a three-time Big Ten Player of the Week this season and was the Blue Ribbon Yearbook preseason National Player of the Year. He entered the year as one of just three returning All-Americans in college basketball (North Carolina's Luke Maye and Guy).
Edwards and the Boilermakers enter Tuesday's contest at Minnesota in first place in the Big Ten standings with a 15-3 league mark and a 22-7 overall record. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET, in Minneapolis.
Edwards was joined on the list by Duke's R.J. Barrett, Hofstra's Justin Wright-Foreman, Virginia's Kyle Guy and Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver.
As last year's winner of the West Award, Edwards is trying to become the first repeat winner of one of the positional awards handed out by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
One of America's most-explosive players, Edwards ranks 11th in the country in scoring (23.5 PPG), but is second among high-major players behind Marquette's Markus Howard. The junior from Atascocita, Texas, is on pace to become just the fourth player since 1992-93 to score 800 points, make 125 3-pointers, dish out 100 assists and grab 50 steals, joining Davidson's Stephen Curry (twice), Duke's Jay Williams and Chicago State's David Holston.
He is on pace to become just the second Big Ten player since 1992-92 to average 23.0 points and 3.0 assists in a season (Michigan State's Shawn Respert in 1995).
Edwards recently moved into 10th place on the Purdue career scoring list (1,727) and his 1,727 points are the most for a Purdue player through his junior season.
In the win over Ohio State, Edwards tied a single-season school record with his 100th 3-pointer of the season and now needs just four triples to Dakota Mathias' career mark of 250.
In just 29 games this year, Edwards has scored 681 points, already making him one of five players in school history with multiple 650-point seasons. His 681 points rank 11th on the single-season list.
Edwards is a three-time Big Ten Player of the Week this season and was the Blue Ribbon Yearbook preseason National Player of the Year. He entered the year as one of just three returning All-Americans in college basketball (North Carolina's Luke Maye and Guy).
Edwards and the Boilermakers enter Tuesday's contest at Minnesota in first place in the Big Ten standings with a 15-3 league mark and a 22-7 overall record. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET, in Minneapolis.