Arizona junior Kerr Kriisa was named to a 20-player preseason watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, honoring the top point guard in college basketball.
Kriisa averaged 9.7 points and 4.7 assists per game last season while posting a 2.2 assist-turnover ratio for the 33-4 Wildcats. He is expected to play a major leadership role as a junior this season after spending the late summer playing a key role for his native Estonia in World Cup qualifying and Eurobasket play.
The four other Naismith positional award watch lists are expected to be released daily this week, with UA forward Azuolas Tubelis likely to be named on the Karl Malone (power forward) watch list.
Other point guards on the 2022-23 Cousy preseason watch lists include:
Jahvon Quinerly, Alabama
Caleb Love, North Carolina
Grant Sherfield, Oklahoma
Wendell Green, Jr., Auburn
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State
Will Richardson, Oregon
Ryan Nembhard, Creighton
Yuri Collins, St. Louis
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Mike Miles, Jr., TCU
Jeremy Roach, Duke
Tyrese Hunter, Texas
Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky
Jordan Walker, UAB
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Kendric Davis, Memphis
Kihei Clark, Virginia