Duke freshman AJ Griffin has been named to the 2022 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award watch list, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today.
Named after Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 16-year professional basketball player Julius Erving, the annual honor in its eighth year recognizes the top small forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
A native of White Plains, N.Y., Griffin enters his freshman season as the No. 9 player in ESPN 100’s rankings for the class of 2021 and the top-rated prospect from the state of New York. In 12 games as a junior at Archbishop Stepinac High School, he averaged 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. Griffin won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, registering 13.5 points and a team-high 3.3 steals over the six-game tournament.
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 Erving Award will be narrowed to 10. In late February, five finalists will be presented to Mr. Erving and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s Starting Five.
For more information on the 2022 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award and the latest updates, log onto www.hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #ErvingAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, October 22.
2022 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award Watch List
Marcus Bagley — Arizona St.
Matt Mayer — Baylor
Kendall Brown — Baylor
Jabari Walker — Colorado
Hyunjung Lee — Davidson
AJ Griffin — Duke
Matthew Cleveland — Florida State
Jalen Wilson — Kansas
Lucas Williamson — Loyola-Chicago
Emoni Bates — Memphis
Caleb Houstan — Michigan
Justice Sueing — Ohio State
Ron Harper Jr. — Rutgers
Julian Champagnie — St. John’s
Harrison Ingram — Stanford
Timmy Allen — Texas
Kevin Obanor — Texas Tech
Jaime Jaquez — UCLA
Patrick Baldwin Jr. — UW-Milwaukee
Jermaine Samuels — Villanova
