Goodwin & Taylor Land on the Naismith Watch List

Where is A.J. Green?

Editor: The following is part of a press release from hoophall.com. Our comments follow.

(Springfield, MA) — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today the 20 watch list members for the 2021 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award. Named after Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player Jerry West, the annual honor in its seventh year recognizes the top shooting guards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.

“We are now entering our seventh year of the Naismith Starting Five and the competition to make the list is as fierce as ever,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “It is a tremendous honor to be selected to the preseason watch list and the young men we recognize should feel very proud. That being said, a player can be added to the watch list at any point in the season, so Mr. West and our committee are eager to evaluate talent as we return to on-court action in the coming weeks.”

Jerry West attended West Virginia University and averaged 24.8 points and 13.3 rebounds per game in his three varsity seasons. He led his team to the NCAA Championship game in 1959 and was named a consensus All-American in 1959 and 1960. In the summer of 1960, he was co-captain of the U.S. men’s basketball team and won an Olympic gold medal. As a professional player, West played 14 seasons in the NBA with the Lakers making the All-NBA First Team 10 times. West won an NBA championship in 1972 and was named the NBA Finals MVP in 1969 despite his team not winning the championship. In 1996, he was named a member of the NBA’s 50^th Anniversary All-Time Team.

College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2021 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award will be narrowed to just 10. In late February, five finalists will be presented to Mr. West and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.

The winner of the 2021 Jerry West Award will be presented on Friday, April 9, 2021, along with the other four members of the Men’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include 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, in addition to the Women’s Starting Five.

Editor: Here are our comments.

Saint Louis University’s Jordan Goodwin is certainly worthy of landing on this watch list. He had an outstanding junior season and is perhaps the best rebounding guard in the nation. Austin Peay’s Terry Taylor is a great player and should be on every kind of watch list available.

That said, he is not a guard. He may play some guard this season, but he is not a guard.

How Northern Iowa’s A.J. Green was off this list is unforgivable. He is the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and the league’s leading sorer. One could guess hall of fame filled with “a national committee of top college basketball personnel” could have made a small mistake and put him on the ‘point guard’ list, but he is not there either.

The HOF may need some additional ‘personnel’.