DeVries Named to the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List

West Virginia University forward Tucker DeVries is selected to the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List

West Virginia University forward Tucker DeVries / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia University forward Tucker DeVries was named to the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List Wednesday afternoon.

DeVries averaged 21.6 points per game last season and was the only NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to average at least 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

The senior earned the Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and the MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player in consecutive seasons and was the first player to claim the honors in back-to-back seasons since Doug McDermott (2012-13).

For his career, DeVries has scored 1,867 points (18.0 ppg), grabbed 587 rebounds (5.6 rpg), dished out 261 assists and has 125 steals, shooting 43.7% of his field goals, 35.9% of his 3-point field goals and 81.2% of his free throws.

2024-25 Naismith Men’s Player of the Year Watch List

Robbie Avila – Saint Louis

Airious Bailey – Rutgers

Adrian Baldwin Jr. – Penn State

Oumar Ballo – Indiana

Johni Broome – Auburn

Markus Burton – Notre Dame

Walter Clayton Jr. – Florida

LJ Cryer – Houston

RJ Davis – North Carolina

Johnell Davis – Arkansas

Tyson Degenhart – Boise State

Tucker DeVries – West Virginia

Hunter Dickinson – Kansas

Eric Dixon – Villanova

VJ Edgecombe – Baylor

Cooper Flag – Duke

Dawson Garcia – Minnesota

Tyon Grant-Foster – Grand Canyon

Dylan Harper – Rutgers

Dajuan Harris Jr. Kansas

Coleman Hawkins – Kansas State

Bryce Hopkins – Providence

Graham Ike – Gonzaga

Tre Johnson – Texas

Kam Jones – Marquette

Ryan Kalkbrenner – Creighton

Alex Karaban – Uconn

Kon Knueppel – Duke

Yaxel Lendeborg – UAB

Tamin Lipsey – Iowa State

Caleb Love – Arizona

Liam McNeeley – Uconn

Mathew Murrell – Ole Miss

Grant Nelson – Alabama

Ryan Nembhard – Gonzaga

Norchad Omier – Baylor

Great Osobor – Washinton

Kadary Richmond – St. Johns’s

Jeremy Roach – Baylor

J’Wan Roberts – Houston

Jaxson Robinson – Kentucky

Hunter Sallis – Wake Forest

Payton Sandfort – Iowa

Mark Sears – Alabama

Jackson Shelstad – Oregon

Braden Smith – Purdue

AJ Storr – Kansas

Wade Taylor IV – Texas A&M

Bruce Thornton – Ohio State

Zakai Zeigler - Tennessee

About the Naismith Awards

Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball, the first Naismith trophy was awarded in 1969 to UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The trophy was sculpted by Marty C. Dawe of Atlanta and has become among the most prestigious national honors awarded each year to top basketball players in the nation. The Naismith Women’s Player of the Year Award was first given to Anne Donovan of Old Dominion University in 1983.

Each year the club’s board publishes the “Naismith Watch” list that is made up of the top 50 players to watch in men’s and women’s college basketball. The organization also releases a list of 30 mid-season Naismith candidates. At the end of the season the  Naismith Trophy is awarded to the player of the year in men’s and women’s college basketball. A national voting academy of leading basketball coaches, administrators and journalists narrows the group down to four finalists based on player performance throughout the season. The final four Naismith finalists will make up the ballot and the player of the year is voted on by the group.

In 1982 the Atlanta Tipoff Club established the Outstanding Contribution Award to honor men and women who have had a positive impact on the game of basketball.

The Naismith Men’s and Women’s College Coach of the Year Award were established in 1987 and were originally given to the coaches of the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I Tournament Champions. In 1989, the governing board changed the selection criteria to the voting process used today in which the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors first votes to compile a top 25 list of coaches for each award. Then, through additional votes, the list is narrowed down to four and finally, the national winner.

Also in 1987, to honor the nation’s best boys’ and girls’ high school basketball players, the Naismith Trophy Boys’ High School Player of the Year and the Naismith Trophy Girls’ High School Player of the Year were established. The board compiles a top 10 list of players from across the country for both awards. The winners are then selected by board vote. The Naismith High School Boy’s Coach of the Year and Girl’s Coach of the Year categories were added in 2008.

In 2018, the Men’s and Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year was added to the Naismith family, with Jevon Carter and Teaira McCowan taking home the inaugural awards.