Per Duke Sports Information:
ATLANTA – Duke sophomore guard Luke Kennard was identified as one of 30 players in contention for the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Trophy on Thursday in an announcement by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Kennard leads Duke in scoring with an average of 19.8 points per game and shooting .531 from the floor, .458 from outside the arc and .850 from the free throw line. He is one of four players nationally – and the only major-conference player – to average at least 19.5 points while shooting at least .500 from the floor, .400 from outside the arc and .800 from the line.
Kennard was also recently named one of 10 finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and a member of the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20.
The Franklin, Ohio, native has scored in double figures in 22 of Duke’s 23 games this season, eclipsing the 20-point mark a team-high 11 times. He ranks third in the ACC in scoring. His .531 field goal percentage ranks second overall and best among guards in the conference. He leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.458) and ranks fifth in free throw percentage (.850) while averaging the third-most minutes per game (34.7) in the ACC.
Kennard had perhaps the half of the year in college basketball in Duke’s 85-83 win at Wake Forest on Jan. 28, going 10-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-5 from deep to total 30 points, four assists and three rebounds in the second half. He knocked down the game-winning three-pointer with 6.6 seconds to play.
Kennard has an opportunity to become the fifth Duke player – and first since Christian Laettner in 1992 – to average at least 20.0 points while shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
For his career, Kennard owns averages of 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 29.8 minutes. He is a career .472 shooter from the floor, .377 from three-point range and .868 from the free throw line. After just 59 career games, he is only 120 points shy of joining Duke’s 1,000-point club.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club will announce 10 semifinalists for the 2017 Naismith Trophy on March 1.
Naismith Top 30
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Lonzo Ball, UCLA
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
Dillon Brooks, Oregon
Jalen Brunson, Villanova
Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame
Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State
Marcus Foster, Creighton
De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
Josh Hart, Villanova
Josh Jackson, Kansas
Justin Jackson, North Carolina
Marcus Keene, Central Michigan
Luke Kennard, Duke
Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s
T.J. Leaf, UCLA
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona
Frank Mason III, Kansas
Donovan Mitchell, Louisville
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Monte Morris, Iowa State
Jonathan Motley, Baylor
Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Dennis Smith, Jr., NC State
Caleb Swanigan, Purdue
Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
