Illinois wing Malcolm Hill named to 2017 Jerry West Award Watch List

Illinois basketball’s Malcolm Hill has been named to preseason watch list for the 2017 Jerry West Award. The honor is presented annually by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation’s top shooting guard.

Hill averaged 18.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game last year while shooting 43.6% from the field. Only three other players (Ben Simmons, Denzel Valentine, and Thomas Walkup) managed to achieve those numbers.

The other 19 players to make the watch list were Allonzo Trier (Arizona), Dusty Hannahs (Arkansas), Nick Emery (BYU), Jacob Evans (Cincinnati), Charles Cooke (Dayton), Grayson Allen (Duke), Jordan Matthews (Gonzaga), James Blackmon Jr. (Indiana), Peter Jok (Iowa), Devonte Graham (Kansas), Malik Monk (Kentucky), Antonio Blakeney (LSU), Donovan Mitchell (Louisville), Eron Harris (Michigan State), Elijah Brown (New Mexico), Tyler Dorsey (Oregon), E.C. Matthews (Rhode Island), Shake Milton (SMU), and Isaac Hamilton (UCLA).

Former Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell took home the inaugural Jerry West Award in 2015, and Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield was last season’s winner. For more information on the award's background, click here.