Purdue junior guard Lewis Jackson is in contention for the title of college basketball’s top point guard, as he was named a candidate for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award on Monday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A starter in each of the Boilermakers’ 11 games this season, Jackson leads the team and ranks 13th in the Big Ten with an average of 3.64 assists per game. The Decatur, Ill., native also owns a 2.22 assist-to-turnover ratio on the year, good for eighth in the Big Ten.
Jackson, a pass-first point guard, is also averaging 4.2 points and a career-best 3.0 rebounds for the Boilermakers this season. He has three games this season with seven or more assists, including a career high-tying nine in a win over Austin Peay on Nov. 23.
The original list of Cousy Award candidates will be trimmed to 20 by Jan. 3, 10 by Feb. 3 and a final five by March 3. A Hall of Fame-appointed screening committee will oversee the process. The winner of the 2011 Cousy Award will be presented at the Hall of Fame’s Class Announcement on Monday, April 4, in Houston as part of the NCAA Final Four weekend.
Previous winners of the Cousy Award have included Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s), Raymond Felton (North Carolina), Dee Brown (Illinois), Acie Law (Texas A&M), DJ Augustin (Texas), Ty Lawson (North Carolina) and Greivis Vasquez (Maryland).