UCLA's Juzang Selected to Jerry West Award Watch List

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UCLA junior Johnny Juzang has been listed on the 20-person watch list for this season's Jerry West Award, honoring the nation's top shooting guard.
 
The annual position-by-position watch lists, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, are being revealed this week, with the point guards on Monday and the shooting guards on Tuesday.
 
Juzang, a 6-foot-7 guard from Tarzana, Calif., enters his second season at UCLA after having transferred to the Bruins from the University of Kentucky (in the summer of 2020). Juzang led the Bruins in scoring last season (16.0 ppg) and shot 44.1 percent from the field. The former standout at nearby Harvard-Westlake School was one of five players named an All-NCAA Tournament Team selection last season. He averaged 22.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in six NCAA Tournament games, shooting 50.9 percent from the field.
 
Juzang scored in double figures in 20 of 27 games last season, totaling at least 20 points in eight contests. He scored a career-best 32 points in a road win at Washington on Feb. 15 and registered 29 points in the Bruins' Final Four overtime loss to Gonzaga on April 3. In addition, he scored 28 points in UCLA's 51-49 victory against Michigan in the Elite Eight on March 30.
 
The 2021-22 season will mark the eighth year in which the Jerry West Award recognizes the nation's top shooting guard. The award honors the contributions of former West Virginia University standout Jerry West, who averaged 24.8 points and 13.3 rebounds in three varsity seasons and led his team to the NCAA title contest in 1959. West was named a consensus All-American in 1959 and 1960 before enjoying a strong 14-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Oregon's Chris Duarte was honored as the Jerry West Award winner in 2020-21.
 
College basketball fans can participate in fan voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds. In late January, the watch list of 20 players will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February, to just five. The five finalists will be presented in March 2022, before the Hall of Fame's selection committee, where a winner will be selected.
 
The winner of this season's award will be presented on a date (to be determined) along with the other four members of the "men's starting five," including the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award, the Karl Malone Power Forward Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award.
 
For more information on this season's Jerry West Award, and all the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #WestAward on Twitter and Instagram. The "starting five" fan voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, Oct. 22.

2021-22 Jerry West Award Watch List