Purdue senior guard Lewis Jackson has been named a candidate for the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award in an announcement by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The annual honor, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guard in college basketball.
Jackson is averaging 10.8 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Boilermakers this season. He ranks fifth in the Big Ten in both assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3).
The Decatur, Ill., native cracked Purdue’s career scoring list against Western Carolina on Dec. 7, and currently ranks 73rd with 652 points. He posted the Boilermakers’ first 10-assist game in nearly seven years when he posted 10 assists and no turnovers against Coppin State on Nov. 26.
He was named to the Five-hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-Off All-Tournament Team after scoring 17 in a win over Iona, exploding for a career-high 26 points in the semifinal victory over Temple and collecting a career-best nine rebounds against Alabama in the finals.
The list of Cousy Award candidates will be narrowed to 20 by Jan. 1, 10 by Feb. 1 and five by March 1. A premier selection committee will be appointed by the Hall of Fame to review the final five candidates in contention for the award.
The winner of the 2012 Bob Cousy Award will be presented at the Hall of Fame’s class announcement on Championship Monday in New Orleans as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.